In the state of California, signatures have begun to be collected for the start of an initiative to secede from the United States and declare its independence.
The New York Post writes about this.
The Calexit initiative, which envisages Californiaʼs withdrawal from the United States, has received legal permission from Secretary of State Shirley Weber to begin collecting signatures.
If the necessary number of votes is collected, the question will be put on the ballot in 2028: “Should California secede from the United States and become a free and independent country?”
For the initiative to be put to the vote, at least 50% of registered voters must vote for Calexit by July 22, 2025, and support for the idea of independence must reach at least 55% (over 500 000 votes).
If these conditions are met, it is planned to declare “no confidence in the United States” and express the “will of the people of California” to create an independent state.
A 20-member commission will then be formed to study the viability of California as an independent state in 2027 and publish a report the following year. After that, the issue will appear on the ballot in 2028.
If the initiative is approved for a vote in 2028, Californiaʼs government structure and its relationship with the United States will not change immediately, but the US flag will be removed from all government buildings.
At the same time, as Newsweek writes, the US Constitution does not contain a mechanism for states to secede from the country. In 1869, after the Civil War, the Supreme Court ruled that the act of admitting a state to the country is final and “not subject to revision or revocation, except by revolution or consent of the states.”
- A similar petition was held in California in 2016, when Trump first won the election. If it had been successful, a referendum would have been held in 2019. However, in April 2017, the Yes California political committee, which initiated the vote, canceled the initiative. This happened after American media published a series of articles stating that the committee’s founder Louis Marinelli lives in Russia, has opened an “embassy” of the movement in Moscow, and also receives significant support from the Russian authorities.
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