April 24, 2018 - SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponents of a new initiative were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures.

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 A VOTE IN 2021 ON WHETHER CALIFORNIA SHOULD BECOME AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY. INITIATIVE STATUTE.Requires a special election in May 2021 to ask voters whether California should become an independent country, in the form of a republic. If approved by a majority of voters, requires the Legislature to declare California’s independence from the United States. Requires California to invite and encourage international election monitors to observe and monitor the measure, including the voting process, collection of ballots, and certification of results. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Potential one-time state and local costs in the tens of millions of dollars to hold a statewide special election. (18-0001.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1852 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 18-0001.

The proponents of the measure, Marcus Ruiz Evans and Louis J. Marinelli, must collect the signatures of 365,880 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponents have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than October 17, 2018. The proponents can be reached at (415) 595-3394 and (916) 524-0631.
Source: CA. SOS