A “Six Californias” Initiative (#13-0063) did not qualify for the November 8, 2016 ballot in California as a combined initiated constitutional amendment and state statute.
This proposition was sponsored by financier Timothy C. Draper. It would have called on the United States Congress to officially divide California into six separate states.[1]
Although Congress would have ultimately decided whether to divide the state into six states, what the new boundaries would be and what the new states would be called, the Draper initiative proposed these names and divisions:
Central California, which would include the counties of Alpina, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne.
Jefferson, which would include the counties of Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Laasen, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama and Trinity.
North California, which would include the counties of Amador, El Dorado, Marin, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.
Silicon Valley, which would include the counties of San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey.
South California, which would include the counties of Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego.
West California, which would include the counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and Ventura.
Draper and other supporters originally aimed to get the measure on the November 4, 2014, ballot, but later decided to aim for 2016 in order to gather more signatures.[2]
On July 15, 2014, signatures were submitted in an attempt to get the initiative placed on the 2016 ballot.[3] Proponents turned in an estimated total of 1.3 million signatures.[4] However, the California secretary of state’s office said it did not receive enough valid signatures by the deadline.[5]
