Delaware town seeks to give businesses right to vote

A rural Delaware town is seeking to allow local businesses to vote, causing concern that corporate interests could sway local elections.

Seaford, Del., with a population of about 7,000 in the state’s rural west, changed its charter in April to allow each business in the town one vote in local elections. For that measure to go into effect, it would have to be approved by the state legislature.

There are 234 businesses registered in the town. Only 340 people turned out to vote in the last municipal election on April 15, according to state records, raising questions about corporate influence on election results.

“‘One person, one vote’ is a long agreed upon principle that governs our elections. Proponents of this bill have tried to frame this as an innocuous way to give business owners more power, but in reality, this legislation has the power to transform our elections for the worse,” Common Cause Delaware director Claire Snyder-Hall said in a statement.

The law would not allow a Seaford business owner to vote twice, but would allow a non-town resident to vote multiple times: once where they live and once in Seaford on behalf of their business.

Any business that wants a vote must own property in the town, allaying concerns related to the state’s lax business registration law. 

Delaware is a hotspot for shell companies due to limited registration and tax requirements. The state has more registered businesses — over 1.8 million, according to state records — than residents.

Seaford wouldn’t be the first town in Delaware to adopt such a measure, but the idea has come under criticism from voting rights advocates and progressives in the state legislature. Earlier this year, Delaware progressives proposed a law banning corporate voting in the state.

“People who snowbird in Florida do not get to vote in both Delaware and Florida. It does not work that way,” Snyder-Hall said in a legislature hearing in May.

Rehoboth Beach, Del., home to President Biden’s oceanfront estate, voted down a corporate voting measure in 2017, following protests from residents.

The measure is expected to be voted on before the legislative session ends on June 30.

State Rep. Danny Short (R), the legislation's sponsor, did not respond to a request for comment.