Six of 11 counties in Colorado vote to secede
Six of 11 counties in Colorado voted on Tuesday to secede and create a 51st state called North Colorado.
Eleven of the state’s 64 counties placed a measure on their Election Day ballots for voters to decide whether to pursue secession.
In six counties, the measure passed by mostly wide margins, the The Denver Post reported.
The push is unlikely to succeed. In order for the new state to be created, the Colorado electorate or legislature would have to approve and so would the U.S. Congress.
{mosads}Maine was the last state to secede in 1820, when it drew a new state line from Massachusetts.
The debate over secession in Colorado was framed in explicitly rural vs. urban terms.
Residents in the state’s rural region are expressing a desire to separate themselves from the more liberal voting population that has moved into Colorado’s cities and given liberals control over the government.
Earlier this year, the state legislature passed stricter gun control measures in the wake of the Aurora movie theater shooting in July 2012. In September, two Democratic state lawmakers were ousted in a recall election for their vote in favor of the anti-gun legislation.
2024 Election Coverage
New renewable energy standards were also approved this year, and last year, voters legalized marijuana.
The ballot question on Tuesday was merely a straw poll, asking voters whether their county commissioners should take steps to secede.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Regular the hill posts
The Hill Podcasts
