Californians could vote on separating from the United States in the 2028 elections, after the secessionist initiative Calexit received approval to gather signatures.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced that Marcus Ruiz Evans, the main supporter of California’s independence, must collect at least 546,651 signatures from registered voters for this issue to be included on the ballot in the November 2028 general elections, as reported by The Independent.
The required number of signatures represents 5% of the total votes cast for the governor's election in November 2022.
Ruiz Evans has until July 22, 2025, to submit the signatures to electoral officials, according to Weber's announcement.
"Calexit means that our laws are set by the people of California and not by unelected bureaucrats in Washington whom we did not vote for," states a statement published on the movement's website.
"It means we have a government that begins and ends at the borders of California. It means stopping the money from being taken out of the pockets of California taxpayers. Most importantly, it means that for the first time in our lives, we control our destiny," the statement mentions.
Evans, who has supported secession since 2012, is a staunch opponent of Donald Trump, unlike his former partner, Louis Marinelli, who abandoned the initiative after several years.
Evans told the British daily that they parted ways due to political disagreements that seemed impossible to overcome and recounted being questioned by FBI agents who knocked on his door regarding Marinelli, a staunch Trump supporter whose secessionist activities were allegedly funded by Russian intelligence services.
Marinelli said he learned that his alleged Russian benefactor, Aleksandr Ionov, had ties to the Kremlin's security services only when he and others were indicted by federal agencies in 2023.
"People think that if you are a secessionist, you are crazy. I hate Donald Trump," Evans said. "I am Mexican through and through. The day he appeared on TV and said that all Mexicans are rapists, I said he can go to hell," he added.
Ruiz Evans told The Independent that Californians were outraged by Trump's victory in the elections following the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, and believes he can gather enough support to turn his dream into reality - California's secession from the United States.
California is not only the most populous state in the US but also the wealthiest American state, with the fifth-largest economy in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Trump proposed adding conditions to federal aid for California's reconstruction efforts after the devastating fires in the state. At the same time, the American president continues his dispute with California Governor Gavin Newsom, derogatorily calling the Democrat "Newscum" in social media posts and press conferences.
T.D.