Located along the Nanticoke River in Sussex County, Delaware, near its border with Maryland, Seaford is a scenic small town of about seven thousand. Thanks to the recent efforts of municipal officials and Republican lawmakers in the state’s house of representatives, it may also soon be the site of a radical right-wing experiment that cuts at the basic fabric of democracy.

Delaware is one among only three states that allows nonresidents to vote in local elections. And roughly sixty years ago, it altered its state code to allow municipalities with populations exceeding one thousand to establish “home rule charters” that, among other things, empower them to determine voting eligibility.

It all sounds innocuous enough. What, after all, could possibly be wrong with extending the franchise? Some cities in Delaware already allow nonresident property owners to vote in their elections. But under a new proposal backed by Seaford’s mayor and currently making its way through the state legislature, municipal voting rights would also be extended to nonresident owners of limited liability companies, corporations, and trusts.