An initiative to split California into six states failed to gather enough signatures to be placed on the 2016 general election ballot.
The proposed measure, if it had passed, could have potentially led to the split of the University of California system. Students from regions such as Northern California may have been required to pay out-of-state tuition rates to attend UCLA.
The proposed measure, called the “Six Californias” initiative, had about 1.13 million signatures as of Friday. However, the California secretary of state’s office found Friday that only about 750,000 signatures were valid, with others being duplicates or not coming from registered voters.
About 807,000 signatures were needed for the initiative to be placed on the ballot for the election.
Tim Draper, a venture capitalist from Silicon Valley, created the initiative because he believed the state was too big to be governed efficiently.
The initiative faced several hurdles – even if the measure made it to the state ballot and passed, both the state legislature and Congress would also have had to approve the initiative.
In a press release, the initiative’s organizers said they will conduct a review of the signatures that counties determined invalid.
Compiled by Jeong Park, Bruin senior staff.