In November, Californians will be able to vote for an initiative that could divide their state into three separate entities: Northern California, California, and Southern California.

But the idea to split California into three states with similar populations and political representation is a long way from becoming a reality.

Venture capitalist Tim Draper, the man behind the “Cal 3” proposal, collected more than 402,468 signatures by Tuesday, enough to qualify it for the general election ballot in November. 

While the chances of Cal 3 passing are slim, the hypothetical impact would be felt both on a state and federal level.

Draper believes that Californian citizens would benefit from three smaller governments. In the text of the initiative, he writes that “vast parts of California are poorly served by a representative government dominated by a large number of elected representatives from a small part of our state, both geographically and economically.”

The idea of dividing California into smaller states isn't new. In fact, attempts to slice up the Golden State go back to 1850, the year it became the 31st state. But even if Californians vote for the initiative this fall, the measure faces an even bigger hurdle — under the Constitution, it would have to be ratified by Congress.

That's a heavy lift. Dividing California into three states would add four more senators to the US Senate and would have huge consequences for the Electoral College. California has 55 electoral votes, but Cal 3 would have a combined total of 59. There is also the potential of Southern California becoming a swing state, which would garner attention from both Democrats and Republicans.

University of Illinois College of Law professor Vikram Amar, who has written extensively about Draper’s plans, said the potential of Republicans losing ground in the Senate, combined with Democrats' fear of losing a huge state rich in Electoral College votes, would cause plenty of hesitation from lawmakers even if it were to even make to a congressional vote. 

“I think those partisan implications are going to leave people somewhat conservative in the sense of not wanting to go forward with radical change," he told NBC News. 

Amar also explained that there is a lot that ties California together, including the university system, income taxes, inland counties benefiting from the profits of the major cities, and the state’s water system.