Delaware Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz said the beach town of Fenwick Island was not diluting human votes by allowing companies and other legal entities that own property to cast votes in municipal elections.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware sued the town, arguing it violated the elections clause of the state constitution. The group sought a court order blocking Fenwick Island from counting votes by “non-human artificial entities” in future elections.
The group said entities make up about 12% of registered voters in the town.
A lawyer for the organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The town’s mayor, Natalie Magdeburger, did not immediately respond to a request for comment but told Reuters in March that the city believes “a property owner who pays taxes and is subject to our ordinances should have a say in who represents them on our Town Council.”
The federal government provides minimums for voting, but they’ve never tried providing a maximum requirement until Trump. A state, in theory, could allow various kinds of non-humans from voting.
It is part of the reason why national elections are based on state population, not number of voters.