California won’t be leaving the Union anytime soon.
A bid to make California an independent nation is now off the table as Louis Marinelli, the main guy behind the measure, says he is dropping it and moving to Russia, notes ABC 7.
“I do not wish to live under the American flag, ” Marinelli wrote on his blog. “I do not wish to live under the American political system or within the American economic system.”
“I have found in Russia a new happiness, a life without the albatross of frustration and resentment towards ones’ homeland, and a future detached from the partisan divisions and animosity that has thus far engulfed my entire adult life,” Marinelli added. “Consequently, if the people of Russia would be so kind as to welcome me here on a permanent basis, I intend to make Russia my new home.”
The official author of the measure, Marcus Ruiz Evans, sent an email to the Secretary of State’s office asking to cancel the initiative.
Officials began collecting signatures in January and had until July 25 to collect 585,407 valid voter signatures in order to qualify for the November 2018 ballot, reports the Sacramento Bee.
It’s not clear how many signatures they actually collected.
