• stickly@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Holy shit that is insane

        Judge rules Fenwick Island’s corporate voting does not dilute human votes

        So I can buy a building and sell closet space to other companies (which I also own) for infinite voting power. This is absurd.

        • TheColonel@reddthat.com
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          2 days ago

          What’s preventing a megacorp from buying a bunch of small shell companies and voting in their own best interest?

          I am curious how the voting actually works, though.

        • Zink@programming.dev
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          2 days ago

          Yeah, it seems like a very simple argument that since every individual owner of a corporation gets a vote, that the owners as a group should not get an additional vote.

          I mean, the courts are no longer about what’s logical or fair, obviously, but still.

      • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Oh no. It’s not even new. WTF, Delaware?

        Nonresident voting in local elections has been permitted ​in Fenwick Island since it was incorporated in 1953, according to the court ruling. In 2008, Delaware’s General Assembly amended ‌the charter ⁠to allow non-resident voting by artificial entities, including corporations, partnerships, trusts and limited liability companies, which must be chartered in Delaware.

        Several other towns in Delaware allow companies and other legal entities to vote in local elections if they own property in the municipality.

        So not only is the state of DE a tax haven, and cravenly pro-corporate at that, but this would allow all those companies chartered there (with nothing more than a rented closet and PO Box) to continue to vote for the status quo. If the good people of that state wanted to vote these assholes out and/or make corporate voting illegal, it’s possible that they no longer can.

      • ClownStatue@piefed.social
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        2 days ago

        “However, plaintiff has not demonstrated ⁠that this ​policy violates the principle of one person/entity/one vote.”

        Never in my life have I ever seen it written this way.

        I also like the note about there being “far more corporations” in DE than residents. So I guess this is just a case of it not having been demonstrated yet. I wonder how much it costs to license a company in DE. I wonder how hard it would be for the Internet to absolutely make these morons eat their words. 2 elections? 3?

        • TwitchingCheese@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          $110 to file an LLC, plus $300/yr fee.

          • Delaware has a turnout around 500k voters.
          • Assume say 25% are absolute morons who will swallow any propaganda you put out.
          • $41 million + recurring $112 million buys you enough corporate votes to win every vote in the state.
          • Welcome to Shadowrun without all the fun parts.
        • Bristlecone@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          I like that except they will definitely find a way to undercut that right quick just like they did with the GameStop stuff, illegally I might add

            • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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              1 day ago

              Robinhood canceled a bunch of people’s trades retroactively because it was harming the corporations that were shorting the stock.

          • ClownStatue@piefed.social
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            2 days ago

            It’s funny I was looking through my notifications and saw this one after replying to the other guy with my GME comment.