A proposal to split California into six separate states failed to qualify for the 2016 ballot, ABC News reports.

In July by Tim Draper, a venture capitalist from Silicon Valley, submitted 1.37 million signatures in support of an initiative which alleges that the state with its 38.3 million people has become ungovernable.

The argument is that with that much population, the interests of the citizens have become so diverse that the politicians have too hard of a time effectively representing their constituents.

The random sampling of signatures for the ballot initiative conducted among the 58 counties fell short of about 500,000 signatures to make the ballot, finding that only 66 percent were valid.

Draper has spent more than $5 million into the effort to split California into six separate and independent states, namely: North California, Central California, South California, West California, Jefferson and Silicon Valley. These proposed regions would greatly vary in demographics, size and income.

Regarding the issue of Six Californias failing to reach the required number, Draper said that a review of the signatures would be conducted to determine their validity. He added that the firm that conducted the signature-gathering process had a prediction of a higher rate when compared to the result of the random sampling.

On the other hand, critics pointed out that the plan would, in effect, create a separation between the wealthiest and poorest regions of California and possibly create the poorest states in the nation.

Democrat Fabian Nunez, who is the former California Assembly Speaker, headed the campaign against the initiative. In a written statement, he also pointed out how massive inequities would be caused if California were split into six states, including differences in energy, transportation and higher education, among other systems.

The Six Californias effort is not linked to the other movement that seeks to split the two northern counties to form a 51st state.