A petition created after the reelection of President Barack Obama for the secession of certain states from the nation has gained widespread attention and, in the state of Texas, has collected nearly 23,000 signatures.

Similar petitions were filed after the 2004 and 2008 elections, however, they did not gather as many signatures as the present petitions have. If any of the petitions reach 25,000 signatures, the Obama administration will be required to issue an official response.

Other states that have recently filed petitions to secede include Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

“Of course, this is mostly a symbolic gesture,” Mike Krumboltz of Yahoo! News said. “The odds of the American government granting any state permission to go on its own way are on par with winning the lottery while getting hit with a meteor while seeing Bigfoot while finding gluten-free pizza that tastes like the real thing.”