Let them go! Just let them go!
The number of Californians who would rather see their state a sovereign nation than part of the United States has jumped to 32 percent, a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll showed. In 2014, it was only 20 percent.
During the latest wave of anti-Trump protests in the US an estimated 1.2 million people took to the streets in California.
With 39 million residents and the sixth-largest economy in the world, California could theoretically do well as a sovereign state. But in practice breaking away would be a political, legal and potentially military challenge for the state.
But a secessionist group called ‘Yes California’ is hopeful that it can be reached. Last week it filed a petition with the state attorney general’s office, asking to prepare a referendum on ‘Calexit’, or California exit from the US.
“In the Spring of 2019, Californians will go to the polls in a historic vote to decide by referendum if California should exit the Union, a #Calexit vote,” the group said on its website.
The idea must first win support via the November 2018 ballot. Under the group’s proposal, the state would go independent if 50 percent of voters cast ballots and at least 55 percent of them support Calexit.