The proponents of a new initiative seeking to separate California as an independent country from the United States received approval to gather signatures. The initiative is popularly known as Calexit.
On Monday, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said the proponents of the measure, Marcus Ruiz Evans and Louis Marinelli need to collect the signature of 365,880 voters in order to qualify for the ballot.
Evans and Marinelli are co-founders of Yes California Calexit Campaign. They have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure. It means, they must submit the signatures to county election officials on October 17.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra prepared the official title and summary of the Calexit plan, which reads:
REQUIRES A VOTE IN 2021 ON WHETHER CALIFORNIA SHOULD BECOME AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY. INITIATIVE STATUTE
Based on the summary, California voters will decide in a special election in May 2021 whether California should become an independent country in the form of a republic.
