The Illinois state flag.

By Jayette Bolinski | Illinois Watchdog

SPRINGFIELD – Add the Prairie State to the list of state secession petitions filed with the White House.

Two separate online petitions ask that the White House “peacefully grant the State of Illinois to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.”

One petition was created Sunday by “Illinois R” in Pekin. As of Wednesday night it had more than 3,700 electronic signatures. Of those, more than 1,900 of the signatures were from people who live outside of Illinois, from California to Florida. There even were signatures from Alaska and Hawaii.

The other petition was created Sunday by “Chris H.” As of Wednesday night it had more than 4,100 signatures, and, again, a large number of them appear to be from out of state.

The White House “We the People” online petition site was set up to make it easier for people to petition the government under the First Amendment. If a petition gets 25,000 signatures, President Barack Obama’s administration may review it, send it to the appropriate policy experts and issue an official response.

Obama’s re-election earlier this month sparked outcries from disgruntled voters across the country and a string of petitions for states to secede from the union.

As of Wednesday night, the only state for which a secession petition could not be found was Vermont.

Also garnering thousands of signatures? A petition to “deport everyone that signed a petition to withdraw their state from the United States of America” and a petition to “force all states to pay their portion of the national debt before they can secede from the union.”

—

Click here to view some of the other petitions on the “We the People” site. Some of the more interesting or unusual petitions spotted:

• A petition to allow the city of El Paso, Texas, to secede because “El Paso is tired of being a second-class city within Texas.”
• A petition to legally recognize the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.
• A petition calling for Obama’s impeachment.
• A petition to reform the electoral college.
• A petition to remove “In God We Trust” from U.S. currency and remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
• A petition to make Election Day a federal holiday to encourage voter participation.
• A petition seeking nationwide standards for Congressional redistricting.
• A petition to “end the war on coal.”
• A petition to illuminate the White House exterior in purple to recognize the 75^th anniversary of the March of Dimes.
• A petition to require free Internet access to scientific journal articles that came about because of taxpayer-funded research.
• Several petitions pertaining to marijuana and genetically modified foods.

Contact Jayette Bolinski at jayette.bolinski@franklincenterhq.org. Find Illinois Watchdog on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @ilwatchdog.