June 15, 2018 - SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla today announced that an initiative is eligible for the November 6, 2018, General Election ballot.

In order to become eligible for the ballot, the initiative needed 365,880 valid petition signatures, which is equal to five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2014 General Election.

An initiative can qualify via random sampling of petition signatures if the sampling projects a number of valid signatures greater than 110 percent of the required number. The initiative needed at least 402,468 projected valid signatures to qualify by random sampling, and it exceeded that threshold today.

On June 28, 2018, the Secretary of State will certify the initiative as qualified for the November 6, 2018 General Election ballot, unless the proponent withdraws the initiative prior to that date pursuant to Elections Code section 9604(b).

The Attorney General's official title and summary of the initiative is as follows:

DIVISION OF CALIFORNIA INTO THREE STATES. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Divides California into three states subject to approval by Congress. Assigns each county to a new state. Upon passage, directs Governor to request that Congress grant approval within twelve months. If Congress approves, directs Legislature to divide California’s assets and liabilities between the new states. Provides that, if Legislature fails to act within twelve months of Congressional approval, debts shall be distributed among new states based on population relative to California population as a whole, and assets within boundaries of each new state shall become the assets of that new state. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Assuming this measure is approved by voters and the federal government and allowed by the courts, all tax collections and spending by the existing State of California would end. California’s existing state assets and liabilities would be divided among three new states. These states would make their own decisions about state and local taxes and spending. (17-0018.)

The proponent of this initiative is Timothy Draper. The proponent can be reached c/o Timothy Draper at (650) 233-9000 and tim@draper.com.

For more information about how an initiative qualifies for the ballot in California, visit http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ballot-measures/how-qualify-initiative/.
Source: CA. SOS