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The only way you can do that is if Congress signs off on it.

Every other state has an incentive not to permit that, because then that state gets two senators of its own.

Congress has only ever permitted a state to split a single time -- West Virginia from Virginia, during the American Civil War, where West Virginia was willing to side with the Union, and contained some militarily-important rail and water infrastructure.

Texas also negotiated the right to have the ability to split into five states if it wanted down the line at the time it joined, but I recall reading that it was considered to no longer be an exerciseable option after the American Civil War.

EDIT:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admission_to_the_Union

Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1:

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.[4]

EDIT2: Correction; Kentucky was also split from Virginia and Maine from Massachusetts. The Kentucky split happened before the US Constitution was ratified. Maine was part of the Missouri Compromise, to keep slave and free states in balance when Missouri joined as a slave state.

I love how the vote was for them to just talk to other counties about it to see if they could do it.

"Yeah we went and talked about it. Turns out you can't actually do that. Who woulda thought? Anyway, how 'bout dem Bears?"

The States Attorney already said its nothing more than a symbolic gesture. They legally cannot secede from the state. I have the severe misfortune of living in one of these counties. Everything around here is dead or dying because of decades of total, uncontested Republican rule. Whole towns here are nearly abandoned. And yet, they STILL bitch about how the Democrats, who have no control here, have ruined everything.

And then 2 years later they realize their tax base can't support their infrastructure and this is how Iowa grows a couple gnarly tentacles

Only if we combine the Dakotas and New Illinois gets the senators from that.

Only if they secede from the country

I saw that on the ballot in Madison County and thought there would be no way it would pass. It passed in all 7 counties that had the proposal in the ballot.

There’s no way the counties down here can be financially solvent without the northern half of the state.

People keep telling me not to worry. After seeing so many things that “would never happen” come to pass it is difficult to not take this seriously. Both mine and my wife’s retirement is solely based on our Illinois teacher pensions. I’m guessing those dissolve if this comes to pass? Do I move preemptively?

Then California splits into 20 states.

Good riddance. Now let them struggle with import/export procedures with the USA, and sudden absence of farming subsidies.

Lmfao. Let them.

no one cares what that one dude in Sandwhich, Il thinks.

I fully expect the US to balkanize eventually.

Honestly, if NYC voted to secede from the state, it would probably be pretty popular. Albany doesn't even pretend to view us as anything more than a piggy bank at this point.

Weirdly reassuring reminder of their incompetence, not gonna get complacent tho.