Gold Coast Proposition 11

  

Proposition 11 (passed)

October 16, 1998
Secession of the Channel Islands from the Gold Coast; See results here
Flags of the Channel Islands and the Gold Coast
Location	Gold Coast, Sierra, KS

The Gold Coast Proposition 11 was a successful ballot initiative held in the Sierran province of the Gold Coast that appeared on the province's October 1998 general ballot. The measure called for permitting the Channel Islands to formally and legally secede from the province in order to form its own territory. The measure passed on October 16, 1998, and was the first instance in Sierran history wherein a political secession was allowed within the Kingdom. Although the Channels sought provincial status, Parliament passed a law that year preventing territories that seceded from existing provinces to obtain provincial status for at least 10 years following secession. 18 years since the proposition was passed, and 8 years after the legal restriction period however, the Channels has yet to formally request provincial status, remaining the Kingdom's only territory that is incorporated and organized, but not a province or a constituent country.

Proposition 11 was originally presented to the Gold Coast Provincial Legislature in 1997 with over 333,000 signatures, satisfying the province's minimum threshold requirement of 200,000 for civilian proposed legislation to be considered by the legislature. The proposition was approved in both houses with relative ease, and was placed on the upcoming year's general electoral ballot. The Channels, a predominantly French-speaking collection of islands off the coast of the Gold Coast in the Santa Barbara Channel, had been part of the Gold Coast since the islands' acquisition by the Kingdom of Sierra's predecessor, the California Republic from Mexico in 1848.

Constitutionally speaking, secession is legally permitted in the Kingdom under the Fourth Amendment. In the case of territory seceding from an existing province to form another territory that nonetheless remains a part of the Kingdom, this is situation is not explicitly mentioned in this amendment. This particular form of secession, known as a partition, is however covered in Article VIII, which requires that all provinces affected by such a partition consent to it through their legislatures, and receives approval by Parliament and a royal assent by the Monarch, similar to the requirements proscribed.

Following the passage of Proposition 11, Parliament recognized the partition and Queen Angelina officially assented the bill of the recognition on December 11, 1998. A provisional government was created shortly after, and was responsible for transitioning the Channels from a Gold Coast county into a full-fledged, autonomous territory, which was completed by February 9, 1999, the date chosen by Parliament for secession. Avalon was chosen as the Channels' capital city, and a gubernatorial election was held to elect the first territorial governor. The current Earl of Catalina Olivier Lémieux was appointed by Queen Elizabeth I to represent the Monarch in the Islands, similar to a territorial Lord Proprietor or a provincial Lord Superintendent. By 2002, the Channelier government declared that it had fully transitioned, although continued to rely on the Gold Coast for special services, namely on enforcing waterways, disaster and crisis relief programs, and the Port of Little Gibraltar.

Results

Results
	Votes	%
Yes	2,458,383	56.92
No	1,847,682	42.77%
Invalid	13,371	0.31%
Total votes	4,319,436	100.00%
Registered voters/turnout	6,764,033	63.86%

See also

• Channel Islands
• Law of Sierra