Petitions to Secede from the U.S. | Video

Jessica Roose | 11/12/2012

He didn`t win the presidency, but Mitt Romney was successful here in North Dakota. And some people who don`t like who won are showing their disappointment in an unusual way. In the days after President Obama was re-elected, petitions on the "We the People" section of the White House`s website began to pop up asking that several states be allowed to secede from the union.

He won with 51 percent of the vote, but that means nearly half of the people who voted didn`t want to see the president get re-elected. Some people want their state to leave the union.

"He won by a small margin in the popular vote and by a huge margin in the electoral college. Elections have consequences, we re-elected Barack Obama, I see absolutely no reason for any state to want to secede," said Dakota Institute Director Clay Jenkinson.

One of the 20 states with a petition listed online is North Dakota. It was started by someone in Grand Forks over the weekend and already has over 4,000 signatures.

"North Dakota`s pretty self sufficient and got great people, it would be a good country," said Baldwin resident Kristy Little.

"I think we`re a nation undivided, you know stand for one, one for all. So I really don`t think it`s probably a good idea," said Bismarck resident Jeff Herman.

While Jenkinson says it`s highly unlikely that any of the states would be successful in seceding, he says it is the right of the people to do so.

"Jefferson believed very strongly that any state had a right to secede at any time, for any purpose. He didn`t recommend it, but he knew that the philosophy of the United States was based upon the principle of self determination."

He added that this is will likely go away in the next few weeks as people calm down.

Other states include New York, Montana, Florida and Texas. Currently, Texas is the only state to exceed the 25,000 signatures needed to require a response from the White House.

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