Initiative to Split California into Six States Fails

Not enough valid signatures were obtained to put it on the ballot

By José Sánchez2014-09-14T18:18:20+00:00

CALIFORNIA.- Tim Draper, a Silicon Valley investor, organized a campaign to divide California in six different states , an initiative which he thought would receive enough signatures to be considered by the Secretary of State and put to a vote in 2016.

But, the Secretary of State said, that it did not, and his attempt to obtain enough valid signatures to get it on an electoral ballot to be put to a vote in 2016 has failed.

At least 800,000 registered voters needed to sign it, but only 752,685 were verifiable, contrary to the 1.3 million that the organizer claimed to have just a few months ago. The law states that the Secretary of State can either voluntarily conduct another tally, or the campaign would have to demand a recount.

That is just what they will do, said Draper on Friday in an email he sent to supporters. "A total recount of the signatures that you have helped us collect has been denied, and today we are announcing plans to force the issue and ensure that the signature of every supporter is counted. "

He also criticized the way in which the votes were verified, as a "sign of the great need for six Californias. It is unfortunate that the current, archaic, system requires such a burdensome and expensive process just to approve a ballot measure, but this only highlights the need for six new states.... to satisfy our modern needs."

The Secretary of State doesn't exactly count each signature, but rather applies a formula of quick counting to determine which signatures are valid or not, and tey concluded that only 65 percent of signatures were valid.

A depiction of the proposed divisions under the Six Californias campaign

The proposal was analyzed by some institutions and rejected by them.

The Legislative Analyst's Office for California issued the results of a study where it showed that million would be negatively affected by the division, primarily becuase it would separate the richest communities from the poorest.

Although they will demand a recount, there is little probability that it will be approved in time for 2016 elections, or that a hand count will result in anything different than the original count.

Oh well.

Via "Mashable"

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jose.sanchez@sandiegored.com