Californians won't have to vote to split the Golden State into three separate states during a state-wide election in November.
The Supreme Court of California unanimously ruled to remove a measure called Proposition 9 that intended to break California into separate states, writing that "significant questions have been raised regarding the proposition's validity." It directed Alex Padilla, the Secretary of State of California, to exclude Proposition 9 in the upcoming ballot.
"We conclude that the potential harm in permitting the measure to remain on the ballot outweighs the potential harm in delaying the proposition to a future election," wrote the justices in their decision.
The California Supreme Court ruled that while amendments to the California state constitution through ballot measures are appropriate, more significant "revisions" of the constitution require action from the legislature.
The court said that for a measure to count as a "revision," it "must necessarily or inevitably appear from the face of the challenged provision that the measure will substantially alter the basic governmental framework set forth in our Constitution."
Proposition 9 would have asked voters if California should be divided into three states: California, Northern California and Southern California. The proposition gained enough signatures in June to qualify for the ballot in November. It would have been subject to approval by U.S. Congress for it to become law, however.
The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) filed the suit to remove the "3 Californias" proposition from the ballot last week. Based in Sacramento, PCL was founded in 1965 to protect California from the destruction caused by fast-paced and poorly planned developments.
"In seeking to remove this initiative from the ballot, we are asking the court to protect the integrity of both the initiative process and our state constitution," Carlyle Hall, a lawyer representing PCL. "Proponents should not be able to evade the state constitution simply by qualifying a measure as one thing, when it is so clearly another.
The proposal to break California up is being championed by venture capitalist Tim Draper who first tried the stunt in 2014. Failing in this first attempt, Draper renewed his campaign, calling it "Cal 3."
He alleges that dividing California will allow regional communities to make better and more sensible decisions for their citizens. This will allow citizens to address the state's most pressing issues, including the school systems, high taxes, deteriorating infrastructure and strained government.
"Apparently, the insiders are in cahoots and the establishment doesn't want to find out how many people don't like the way California is being governed. They are afraid to know the answer as to whether we need a fresh start here in California.
"Whether you agree or not with this initiative, this is not the way democracies are supposed to work. This kind of corruption is what happens in third world countries," said Draper.
Critics see Draper's campaign as a distraction, saying that splitting-up the state will cost billions of tax dollars. Neither state Democrats nor Republicans supported Proposition 9.
