this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2023
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Politics

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[–] SilentStorms@lemmy.fmhy.ml 16 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Not American, but is that even constitutional?

[–] bayjird@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

From the article:

A handful of other Delaware towns, including Fenwick Island, Henlopen Acres and Dagsboro, already allow corporations to vote

[–] borkcorkedforks@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So what you're saying is that I can already spin up extra LLCs and get extra ballots?

[–] Blakerboy777@feddit.online 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The corporations themselves cannot vote. This law allows the owner of the corporation to vote even if they do not live within the city proper. No one can vote twice - whether you live in the city and own a corporation or own multiple corporations. And it's only for corporations that own property. While it's easy to imagine this backfiring, the steelman position is - you own a small business one town over, you have a significant role in the local economy, giving you one vote the same as any resident sounds pretty reasonable. Rich folk who own a house and live their 2 months out of the year are potentially eligible to vote as well, so it's potentially more justified that the owner of the local bakery gets to vote too. Could this end up being horribly abused? I don't know that there are enough safeguards against it. But this doesn't immediately scream the end of democracy to me.

[–] TheTrueLinuxDev@beehaw.org 20 points 1 year ago

But it definitely screams the death of a town when corporate find a way to game the system.

[–] AveragePigeon@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

I guess my main concern would be, are these owners or part-time residents voting elsewhere also? Would give new meaning to "vote early, vote often" if so.

[–] Cylinsier@beehaw.org 14 points 1 year ago

With this SCOTUS constitutionality no longer matters.

[–] MinnePuffin@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

It doesn't feel constitutional, but you can make any law as long as no one takes you to court.

[–] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not American, but wondering how easy it is for foreigners to control US corporations.

[–] Blakerboy777@feddit.online 2 points 1 year ago

It's extremely easy, and I believe this bill also allows for them to vote by proxy, which exacerbates that concern. But on the other hand, they do need to own property, so it isn't a totally costless endevour.