Billionaire says he has enough signatures to force vote on breaking up California into THREE

A tech billionaire has successfully gathered enough signatures to enable the voters of California to decide whether to break up the Golden State into three.

Tim Draper, the venture capitalist who made his fortune as an early investor in Skype and Hotmail, says he has amassed more than 600,000 signatures to enable his plan to be put before voters in November.

The minimum threshold of signatures needed to put a proposal on the ballot is 365,880 registered voters – or 5 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the last election in 2014. 

Draper, 59, launched the CAL 3 initiative in October.

It calls for America’s most populous state to be partitioned into three – Northern California, Southern California, and California.

The central state of California would consist of the counties of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and San Benito.

A tech billionaire has successfully gathered enough signatures to enable voters of California to decide whether to break up the Golden State into three. Tim Draper says he has amassed more than 600,000 signatures to enable his plan to be put before voters in November

Draper, 59, launched the CAL 3 initiative in October. It calls for America’s most populous state to be partitioned into three – Northern California, Southern California, and California

Draper, 59, launched the CAL 3 initiative in October. It calls for America’s most populous state to be partitioned into three – Northern California, Southern California, and California

The southern state would comprise Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Fresno, Tulare, Inyo, Madera, and Mono.

The northern state would include the other 40 counties.

‘This is an unprecedented show of support on behalf of every corner of California to create three state governments that emphasize representation, responsiveness, reliability and regional identity,’ Draper told CBS Los Angeles.

If voters do decide to support the initiative, it would still require approval from Congress.

Draper believes that ‘the citizens of the whole state would be better served by three smaller state governments while preserving the historical boundaries of the various counties, cities and towns.’

CAL 3 is not a pro-secession movement. It would seek to have all three California states remain in the Union.

Draper says his vision for partitioning California would be parallel to other states that have been partitioned, including the Dakotas, the Carolinas, and the Virginias.

This isn’t the first time that Draper has put forward a ballot initiative in favor of breaking up California.

Earlier this year, Robert Preston and Tom Reed put forward their own proposal calling for splitting California into two because the state had become ‘ungovernable’ because of high taxes

Earlier this year, Robert Preston and Tom Reed put forward their own proposal calling for splitting California into two because the state had become ‘ungovernable’ because of high taxes

Co-founder of the 'New California' movement Robert Preston (pictured) wants a new 'free, independent state'

Co-founder of the ‘New California’ movement Robert Preston (pictured) wants a new ‘free, independent state’

In 2013, he launched Six Californias, a plan that would divide up the Golden State into six states.

The question was never put on the ballot because it failed to gain enough signatures.

Earlier this year, Robert Preston and Tom Reed put forward their own proposal calling for splitting California into two because the state had become ‘ungovernable’ because of high taxes.

The proposal would see California shrunk down to its coastal areas between Los Angeles and Sonoma Counties.

A new state, ‘New California,’ would encompass the rural areas.

Preston and Reed called for a ‘free and Independent State’ with ‘full power to establish and maintain law and order, to promote general prosperity.’

They said they are motivated by what they call ‘a decline in essential basic services such as education, law enforcement, fire protection, transportation, housing, health care, taxation, voter rights, banking, state pension systems, prisons, state parks, water resource management, home ownership and infrastructure.’

‘CAL 3’ and ‘New California’ are just the latest proposals to divvy up the nation’s most populous state. But like efforts before them, they’re highly unlikely to gain significant traction. 

A consensus would have to be reached by the state legislatures of California as well as Congress.



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