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posted by takyon on Tuesday July 24 2018, @11:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the fault-lines dept.

California Supreme Court blocks proposal to split state in 3 from November ballot

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked a proposal that would split the state into three from the November ballot.

The court wrote that it took the step "because significant questions have been raised regarding the proposition's validity and because 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."

Last week, an environmental group sued to have the measure removed from the ballot. To substantially alter the state's governance under the California constitution, the group argued, a constitutional convention would need to be called -- and that requires a supermajority of both houses of the state's legislature. A ballot initiative, the group said, was constitutionally insufficient.

See also: Billionaire Tim Draper Abandons Push to Split California Into Three

Asked if he would continue fighting for the measure, Draper said in an email to Bloomberg News that "the same six lawyers are going to make the decision. What would be the point? They have just proven that California has a runaway government and the people have no say."

Draper, a venture capitalist, sought the initiative because he said the world's fifth-largest economy is "nearly ungovernable" under the current system. Asked if there was anything else he planned to do to make the government more accountable, he said he was "still recovering from the shock."

Previously: Proposal to Divide California Into Three States Could Land on the November Ballot
Ballot Measure to Split California Into Three States Will Appear on the November 2018 Ballot


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by stretch611 on Tuesday July 24 2018, @03:00PM (3 children)

    by stretch611 (6199) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @03:00PM (#711739)

    If the court did not stop it, from what I heard about its polling, the voters would have killed it.

    Even if CA voters approved it, it would still need to be approved by the US congress. That would never happen. While congressional districts would probably remain the same, splitting up CA would add 4 senators... Currently, CA is a havy democrat statee, it would make 2 heavy democrat states and a 3rd state that could be a swing vote, but would still lean democrat. There is no way that the current republican controlled senate would ever allow their power to be diminished like that.

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    Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday July 24 2018, @03:17PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday July 24 2018, @03:17PM (#711746) Journal

    Puerto Rico 51st state!

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    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @03:26PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @03:26PM (#711751)

    "That would never happen. [...] There is no way that the current republican controlled senate would ever allow their power to be diminished like that."

    How do you get to "never"? The current Senate runs until next January. In this year's elections, 33 Senate seats are being contested.

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by stretch611 on Tuesday July 24 2018, @04:04PM

      by stretch611 (6199) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @04:04PM (#711762)

      Actually, this year there are 35 senate seats with elections....

      However, 26 of them are currently democratic/independent seats and only 9 are republican. Of course that includes seats that are extremely unlikely to flip as well. If you only includes seats that have a chance to flip hands, you are looking at only 14 competitive seats, 11 of which are currently in the hands of democrats and 3 repubilican seats.

      So in order for the senate to return to democratic control this year, the dems have to fight to keep all those 11 seats, and gain 2 of the 3 republican seats. Also in thie current scenario, some of the democratic senators are in states that voted for trump in 2016 in significant nubmers, and the republicans are going to use the vote for Kavanaugh on the supreme court to put them in a lose/lose situation (vote for Kavanagh and lose support from your base, vote against him and lose support from moderates on the other side.)

      While it is possible for dems to gain control of the senate, it will require a few minor miracles in order to happen.

      More detail analysis here... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/07/20/the-top-10-senate-races-give-democrats-a-narrow-opening-to-win-the-senate/?noredirect=on [washingtonpost.com]

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      Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P