2012 state petitions for secession

The 2012 state petitions for secession were a citizen originated petition drive using the White House's petitioning system. By November 14, 2012 all 50 US states have had petitions filed by their citizens. Generally, each petition seeks peaceful secession and independence for their respective states from the United States. The reason for this petition was the result of president Obama winning the 2012 US presidential elections.

Historical background

Main article: Secession in the United States

The question of secession (from the Union) has had a long history in American politics. The first region to threaten secession was New England during the War of 1812. The last serious attempt occurred during the American Civil War (1861–65) when 11 southern states declared independence; war soon broke out. Since then most efforts have met with little support. Modern attempts at serious state independence have arisen in Alaska, Hawaii and Vermont as well as through the efforts of southern organizations like the League of the South.

Petition background

The petitions began November 7, 2012, when "Michael E" from Slidell, Louisiana created an online petition requesting the Obama administration "Peacefully grant the State of Louisiana to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government." The petition originally started as a response to the 2012 presidential election but since then it has grown into a national movement and encompasses many grievances, namely economic problems and the expansion of the federal government. By 6 AM (EST), November 14th, the various petitions had garnered over 675,000 signatures. Such petitions are largely symbolic in nature and few, if any, people expect any state to actually secede as a result of these petitions.

Since these petitions were started by individual citizens, and not by the states themselves, no official state petition is being made and they have little to no legal standing.

Signing of a petition for secession of a given state was not restricted to actual residents of that state. Instead, anyone with an account on the whitehouse.gov petitioning system could sign petitions for secession of states they did not live in, and many did.

State petitions

According to the We the People petitioning site, the largest petitions have the following signature count:

State	Number of signatures
Texas	125,000
Tennessee	32,694
North Carolina	31,800
Alabama	31,597
Arizona	23,987
Arkansas	23,506
Colorado	22,720
Indiana	21,932
Missouri	20,562
Michigan	19,981
Kentucky	19,344
Mississippi	18,861
Oklahoma	18,360
New York	15,361
California	15,220
Oregon	15,007
New Jersey	14,487
Pennsylvania	13,971
Montana	13,733
Ohio	12,040
North Dakota	11,744
Nevada	10,706
Wyoming	9,341
Virginia	9,102
Kansas	8,857
Utah	8,446
Alaska	8,099
West Virginia	8,084
Delaware	7,804
Nebraska	7,394
Wisconsin	7,386
South Dakota	6,716
Idaho	6,450
Minnesota	5,807
New Hampshire	5,640
Illinois	5,520
New Mexico	5,329
Iowa	5,276
Rhode Island	4,826
Washington	4,600
Maine	4,344
Hawaii	4,269
Massachusetts	4,254
Maryland	4,176
Connecticut	3,910
Vermont	2,656

Official reactions

Petitions that receive over 25,000 signatures within 30 days of their filing make them eligible to receive an official response from the White House. Over time, several elected officials have responded.

• A spokeswoman for Alabama governor Robert Bentley said in an email “Governor Bentley believes in one nation under God." "We can disagree on philosophy, but we should work together to make this country the best it can be."
• Tennessee's governor, Bill Haslam, said “I don’t think that’s a valid option for Tennessee...I don’t think we’ll be seceding.”
• Texas governor Rick Perry's press secretary Catherine Frazier released a statement saying "Gov. [Rick] Perry believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it..." "But he also shares the frustrations many Americans have with our federal government."
• Speaking on the matter, a spokeswoman for Republican presidential candidate and US Representative from Texas Ron Paul said "[He] feels the same now" as he did in 2009 when he said "It’s very American to talk about secession -- that’s how we came into being."

On January 15, 2013, the White House officially stated that they will not allow the states to secede.

Related petitions

In addition to the individual petitions for secession several related and counter petitions were also filed. One asks that those states who have filed petitions to be allowed to peacefully form their own new governments or to allow those seceded states to collectively "form a new government all together". Several others ask that the administration punish those who sign secession petitions by revoking their citizenship and deporting and/or exiling them. Additional petitions ask that certain cities, such as Austin, Texas, be allowed to remain in the United States should their state secede. All of these petitions have less than 20,000 signatures.

Media reactions

When the number of petitions began to grow media outlets nationwide started to carry stories detailing the issue and interviewing various individuals and groups associated with the petition drive. Phil Valentine, Sean Hannity, Alex Jones and others have all dedicated time to doing interviews or discussing the reasons behind the drive and its implications.

See also

• Secession
• Secession in the United States
• Ordinance of Secession
• Texas v. White
• Larry Kilgore, who changed his middle name to "SECEDE" to celebrate the petitions