Judge Rules Corporations Can Vote in Local Elections...

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]A judge just ruled that corporations have the right to vote in local elections and that it's all perfectly constitutional. What world are we living in? This is like the bizarro zone. On Tuesday, Delaware Superior Court judge Craig Karsnitz ruled that the small beach town of Fenwick Island was not violating the state constitution by allowing corporations and other legal entities that own property to cast votes in municipal elections.

[00:00:26]The ACLU American Civil Civil Liberties Union uh union, excuse me, in Delaware sued the town arguing that it violated the state constitution's elections clause, which reads, "All elections shall be free and equal." The ACLU sought a court order blocking Fenwick Island from counting votes by what it called non-human artificial entities. I don't know exactly what that means, but it sounds very scary and a serious threat to democracy. Anyway, the judge disagreed with them.

[00:00:53]Karsnitz ruled that the free and equal clause has historically been understood by courts to mean free of fraud.

[00:00:59]He said there were no allegations of racial or other discrimination.

[00:01:03]He wrote, "Plaintiff has not demonstrated that this policy violates the principle of one person entity or on or vote."

[00:01:10]He also acknowledged the unsettling nature of the policy writing that quote, "Visions of faceless large corporations or even uh how controlling a small town are frightening and the stuff of science fiction." I think we're much closer to science fiction than people really account for. We'll just say that. Uh that is direct reference to the murderous uh computer in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Some of y'all remember that. I'm too young to have seen it in the theater, but I do remember the movie. Anyway, the judge compared corporate voting to a fictional AI killer.

[00:01:46]A fictional AI killer and still ruled in favor of it. Now, let me take a step back. Non-resident voting in Fenwick Island has been allowed since the town was incorporated in 1953 that's going to a court ruling.

[00:02:00]But in 2008 Delaware's general general assembly amended the town's charter to specifically allow non-resident voting by artificial entities including corporations, partnerships, trusts, and limited liability companies uh that are chartered in Delaware. Now, according to the ACLU of Delaware, entities now make up 12% of registered voters in Fenwick Island. Several other Delaware towns allow the same thing. So, you have to think about the consequences are of any choices you make. That's all I'll say. Um The town's mayor, Natalie Mag Magdeburger, previously previously said in March the city believes a quote property owner who pays taxes and is subject to our ordinance ordinances should have a say in who represents them in our town council. Council.

[00:02:45]And that is the core argument here. This is a a taxation representation argument.

[00:02:49]But the ACLU's argument is that the women Excuse me, that the human rights votes or human votes are being diluted by entities that are not human. That they're literally being drowned out by people who are not human beings.

[00:03:01]The ruling matters beyond the beach town for a simple reason.

[00:03:05]Delaware uh has far more corporations chartered in the state than it has human residents and we know that. I got a business in Delaware. Everybody got a business in Delaware because of the tax situation.

[00:03:14]Despite recent movement by some companies to incorporate elsewhere, Delaware remains the legal home of most publicly traded companies in the United States, which is crazy.

[00:03:24]Uh legal uh archi- the legal architecture that governs corporate rights in this country runs through Delaware. And a ruling a ruling that says corporations can vote in local elections without violating the state constitution just adds another layer to that archi- architecture. If the ACLU appeals the decision, the case could move to higher courts and potentially set a broader precedent for corporate voting rights in local elections across the country.