- The Texas Nationalist Movement appealed to the state Supreme Court after its petition to the Republican Party was rejected
- The Republican Party had said that the petition did not meet the thresholds for consideration, even though there were enough signatories
- Texas has a long-standing independence movement – Texit – that dates back to the fight for liberation from Mexico
The Texas Supreme Court has rejected calls to give Texans the opportunity to vote on whether the state should become independent.
The Texas Nationalist Movement had submitted a petition to the Republican Party calling for the question to be placed in the March primary.
But it was rejected by Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi, despite having well over the 97,709 signatures needed for an additional vote. The petition was submitted with 139,456 signatures.
The rejection prompted the movement to file a lawsuit against the Republican Party, but it was almost immediately rejected by the state Supreme Court.
“Well, we did everything we could, but the Texas Supreme Court screwed us over,” Paul M. Davis, an attorney for the Texas Nationalist Movement, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The Texas Supreme Court has rejected a request by the Texas Nationalist Movement for an independence referendum in the March primary
The Republican Party had rejected the petition on the grounds that many were invalid signatures, even though it had more than the required number of signatories to place the vote on the ballot. This led to a legal challenge by the Texas Nationalist Movement. The state has long harbored calls for independence, often citing the state's Battle of the Alamo.
“I didn't even want to look at the petition that TNM sent to Rinaldi to see if what we said was true.” Just “No.” No explanation. No nothing. This is what the Republican establishment thinks about Texans.
“You don’t have the right to petition your government.” According to Matt Rinaldi, you’re the “wrong type of voter.” The establishment won today, but we are not going away.”
Rinaldi rejected the petition on the grounds that “the vast majority of petition signatures were invalid,” Newsweek reports.
He claimed that some signatures were missing important information such as addresses, dates of birth and voter registration numbers.
The Texas GOP also said the petition was “untimely” and did not meet the threshold for the number of handwritten signatures.
The request for secession is not the first, and the state has long been pushing for an independent movement, now called “Texit.” The independence movement began more than 150 years ago as an attempt to free itself from Mexican control, when it was still known as “Tejas.”
Fierce fighting ensued, including a major battle at the Alamo in 1836 in which up to 260 Texans were killed as they unsuccessfully attempted to defend it. Around 1,600 Mexicans were also injured or killed.
Despite the loss, “Remember the Alamo” became a rallying cry for quitting that is still used in the parlance of the Texit movement today.
Texas has a long-standing independence movement, dating back to the struggle to liberate Mexico in the early 19th century. The Battle of the Alamo became a pivotal moment (represented in this painting) in the movement's history
In 2022, Texas Republicans wanted to hold a referendum to decide whether or not the state should secede from the United States
The state eventually declared independence from Mexico in the same year as the Battle of the Alamo and became known as Texas.
It was a sovereign state for nine years before it was annexed by the United States in 1845. Since then there have been several secession movements.
In 2022, Texas Republicans said they would decide at their state convention whether or not the state should secede from the United States.
From a legal perspective, it is not possible for Texas to withdraw from the union. There is a myth that this was possible because of the nature of the annexation, but Congress's annexation order simply stated that Texas could split into five states at a later date. There is nothing in it about leaving the union.