Small Delaware town will let corporation’s vote in elections…..

This isn’t the first place to allow this…..

How many companies are involved?

One vote per entity ….

Lawmakers in the Delaware House of Representatives have approved legislation authorizing a small town in the southern part of the state to allow business entities, including corporations and limited liability companies, to vote in municipal elections.

Lawmakers voted 35-6 on Friday for the measure, which was sent to the Senate on the final day of this year’s legislative session. The Senate declined to take up the measure, although it could be revisited when the General Assembly reconvenes in January.

The bill authorizes a charter change for the city of Seaford, one of more than a dozen municipalities in Delaware that already allow nonresident property owners to vote. At least four allow corporate entities and trusts to vote in municipal elections, while others restrict such entities to voting in special elections such as annexations, referenda or bond issues….

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Any such entity would have only one vote, no matter how many properties it might own….

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That list includes Rehoboth Beach, where President Joe Biden has a summer home. Rehoboth is known as “The Nation’s Summer Capital” because of its popularity among denizens of Washington, D.C., some of whom own vacation homes in Delaware.

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Seaford town officials, who approved the charter change in April, say business owners who have invested in the town through entities like LLCs and partnerships should have a say in local affairs.

Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware, criticized the House vote, saying corporations have no place in elections.

“In a state with more registered businesses than residents, this bill gives wealthy outsiders the power to override the actual people of Seaford,” she said in a news release….

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