FX.co ★ Calexit: California starts gathering petition signatures to withdraw from US

Supporters seeking to break California away from the United States have started collecting signatures to get a proposed independence measure on the 2018 statewide ballot. The collection of signatures has been approved by the California Secretary of State.

During 180 days, the backers of the Yes California Independence movement need to collect 585,407 signatures which would represent 8% of the state population. If it succeeds, California will hold a referendum on November 2018 to repeal a provision in the state's constitution that reads "California is an inseparable part of the United States of America, and the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land." Then will be special election in 2019 for the independence vote itself.

According to the Los Angeles Times, there must be a 50% turnout in order to the Calexit referendum to take place and the Yes vote of at least 55% of voters.

The organizers of the secession movement filed a referendum petition in November 2016 when Donald Trump won the US presidential election. Only about 31.5% of voters chose Trump in November's general election, while 61.5% of voters opted for Hillary Clinton.

California is the most populous US state with over 39 million people living in. It is also the third largest US state by land area.