-New Urban US News- Against All Odds, California Accepts November Voting Ballot Proposal to Separate into 3 Separate States

(Photo Credit: CBS)

We never thought it would happen, but the possibility of the state of California being split into three states has now become a tangible initiative, one that will be presented on the state's voting ballot in November.  For the first time since before the Civil War, voters across California will decide this fall on a proposal to divide the Golden State — potentially remaking it into three new states; California, Northern California, and Southern California.

The initiative to divide the state is being pushed by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, and the Secretary of State’s office confirmed Tuesday afternoon enough signatures have been received to qualify the initiative for the November ballot.

With the creation of three new states,  the first would be (New) California, an area reduced to a coastal strip running south from Monterey to just past Los Angeles.

The Bay Area would be part of a new Northern California state with a border that starts north of Monterey, runs east and north to the Nevada state line, and includes everything north to the Oregon border.

A new Southern California state would run south from the Northern California border, skirt around the coast from Monterey past Los Angeles, and include San Diego, Death Valley and the rest of the state east to Nevada and Arizona.

 A poll conducted in April found that only 17 percent of registered California voters favored the proposal, while 72 percent opposed it. Even if approved by state voters, splitting up the state still would require approval from Congress. Voters approved breaking California into two states in 1859, but Congress never acted on that request.