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AP20:081

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2020
CONTACT:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575

Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation

Requires Vote on Whether California Should Become a Separate Country. Initiative Statute.

SACRAMENTO, CA – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced that the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures yesterday.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

REQUIRES VOTE ON WHETHER CALIFORNIA SHOULD BECOME A SEPARATE COUNTRY. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Places question of whether California should leave the United States on a future ballot. Treats result of such future vote as a vote of no confidence in the United States and an expression of the electorate’s desire for California to be an independent country if: (1) 50 percent of registered voters participate in election; and (2) 55 percent of those voting approve. Creates commission to evaluate and report on California’s current ability to govern itself independently, and California’s future economic and political viability as an independent country. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Around $1 million in added state costs for a new state commission on national sovereignty and independence. Potential state and local election administration costs in the tens of millions of dollars to ask voters to respond to a question on independence. Unknown, potentially major, fiscal effects if California voters approved changes to the state’s relationship with the United States at a future election after the approval of this measure. (20-0001A1.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1891 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 20-0001.

The proponent of the measure, Marcus Ruiz Evans, must collect signatures of 623,212 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2018 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than March 8, 2021. The proponent can be reached at president@yescalifornia.org. The address for the proponent is 6083 N. Figarden Drive, #356, Fresno, CA 93722.

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