A trio of new ballot initiatives by a San Diego man would make the governor “president” of California, fly the state flag above the American flag and ban-out-of state election contributions.
The initiatives, which were certified for signature gathering by Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Wednesday, are the latest from Louis J. Marinelli, who is also gathering signatures on an initiative to make California an autonomous region of the United States. His organization Sovereign California is based in San Diego.
“These initiatives are about Californians standing up and demanding the recognition we deserve as a nation within a nation like Quebec in Canada or Catalonia in Spain,” Marinelli told City News Service.
“With a population of over 38 million and the seventh largest economy in the world, California is more of a nation than a state and we believe it’s time for us to start acting like it.”
The three new initiatives are named the President of California Act, the California National Flag Act and the California Independence in Statewide Elections Act.
To make the November 2016 ballot, the first initiative would require valid signatures from 585,407 registered voters and the other two initiatives signatures from 365,880 registered voters. The President of California Act requires a larger number of signatures because it is a constitutional amendment.
City News Service contributed to this article.
