FENWICK ISLAND, Del. - The American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Fenwick Island, challenging its practice of allowing corporations and other artificial entities to vote in municipal elections.
The civil rights group argues that this policy violates the Delaware Constitution by diluting the votes of real people and undermining the principle of “one person, one vote.”
“There are over 2 million artificial business entities incorporated in Delaware and only about 1 million people,” said Andrew Bernstein, ACLU-DE Civic Engagement Counsel. “Under these conditions, the people of Delaware risk having their voices drowned out when towns like Fenwick Island allow artificial entities to vote.”
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 4, claims Fenwick Island’s charter violates the Elections Clause, which guarantees “free and equal” elections. The ACLU for Delaware is serving as the plaintiff and chose Fenwick Island because ACLU members are on those voter rolls and voted in recent municipal elections.
"We also saw that a really large proportion of their voter rolls and votes cast in recent elections were artificial entities, which made us more concerned that there is significant vote dilution happening." said Andrew Bernstein, Civic Engagement Counsel for ACLU of Delaware.
According to the group, over 200 artificial entities were registered to vote in Fenwick Island as of October 2025, accounting for roughly 12 percent of the electorate. In the 2024 election, the number of votes cast by these entities exceeded the margin between a winning candidate and the top losing candidate, raising concerns about the legitimacy of the results.
The issue of corporate voting in local elections first gained statewide attention in 2023 when Seaford tried to amend its charter to permit the practice. That effort was blocked by state legislators following public backlash, but it spurred a broader investigation by the ACLU Delaware. The group found that at least five Delaware municipalities currently allow artificial entities to vote in local elections, including Fenwick Island. The other four towns include Henlopen Acres, Dagsboro, Bethel and Dewey Beach. There are other towns allow corporations to vote in special elections, but not in their general municipal elections, said Bernstein.
The group says this lawsuit marks the first known legal challenge to the practice of corporate voting in municipal elections, not only in Delaware but nationally.
Fenwick Island’s next election is scheduled for Aug. 1, 2026.