Secession petitions received from 20 states after Barack Obama’s re-election

More than 100,000 Americans have petitioned the White House to allow their states to secede from the US, after President Barack Obama’s re-election.

The appeals were filed on the White House’s We the People website.

Most of the 20 states with petitions voted for Republican Mitt Romney.

The US constitution contains no provisions for states to secede from the union. By Monday night the White House had not responded.

In total, more than 20 petitions have been filed. One for Texas has reached the 25,000-signature threshold at which the White House promises a response.

The last time states officially seceded, the US Civil War followed.

More than 100,000 Americans have petitioned the White House to allow their states to secede from the US, after President Barack Obama’s re-election

Most of the petitions merely quote the opening line of America’s Declaration of Independence from Britain, in which America’s founders stated their right to “dissolve the political bands” and form a new nation.

Currently, the most popular petition is from Texas, which voted for Mitt Romney by some 15 percentage points more than it did for the Democratic incumbent.

The text complains of “blatant abuses” of Americans’ rights.

It cites the Transportation Security Administration, whose staff has been accused of intrusive screening at airports.