(AP) — The nation’s newest state would be about the size of Vermont but with the population of a small town spread across miles of farmland if eastern Colorado residents had their way. There wouldn’t be civil unions for gay couples, new renewable energy standards, or limits on ammunition magazines.

After all, those were some of the reasons five counties on the state’s Eastern Plains voted on Election Day to approve the creation of a 51st state.

Secession supporters know the votes were symbolic. But they say the votes emphasize a growing frustration in conservative prairie towns with the more populous and liberal urban Front Range.

More than 80 percent of Colorado’s 5 million residents live on the Front Range, and that has helped solidify the Democrats’ power in the Colorado Legislature.