Rehoboth voting charter changes introduced in Dover
A bill introduced Jan. 7 to the General Assembly would change Rehoboth’s charter to limit voting to individuals, while at the same time relaxing some voter registration and eligibility requirements to bring them in line with state law.
In an email explaining the charter changes, city solicitor Glenn Mandalas said the most controversial issues are no longer part of the proposed amendments. He said these changes clarify the one person, one vote rule for all elections – annual municipal, annexation, and borrowing and bond issuance elections. He said no matter how many properties a person owns, that person gets only vote in a municipal election or referendum.
As a matter of policy,” Mandalas said, “the commissioners chose to make it abundantly clear that the principles of ‘one person, one vote’ are to be exercised.”
Rehoboth commissioners approved the charter changes in House Bill 34 with little discussion in October. That’s because most of the discussion occurred this time last year, after a proposal was introduced saying a person would be eligible to vote on behalf of an LLC if that person owned at least 50 percent of the property. The proposal also said 30-day leaseholders would have the right to vote. During multiple commissioner meetings and a special town hall meeting, citizens told commissioners over and over they did not want LLCs to have the right to vote and that 30 days was too short a time.
There are other charter changes beyond limiting the voting rights of artificial entities.
One change reduces the amount of time nonresident property owners have to own property in town before they can vote, from six months to three months.
Mandalas said commissioners said the time to become eligible to vote should be the same for resident and nonresident voters.
The bill changes the voter registration deadline from the the close of business on the second Friday in June, to 30 days prior to the annual municipal election, which is held the second Saturday in August.
Mandalas said this change brings the charter into compliance with state law, which prohibits a registration cutoff date more than 30 days prior to the annual election.
Another change makes the city’s process to purge individuals from the books of registered voters consistent with regulations.
Mandalas said, if a person fails to vote in two consecutive elections, under current procedures, city officials remove them from the books of registered voters.
Under the revised process, Mandalas said, if a registered voter fails to vote in two consecutive annual municipal elections in which there is a contest, the city will send a voter verification request to the voter, asking the voter to sign a card confirming their eligibility or that they are no longer eligible to vote.
If the voter verification request is not returned within 60 days, that person is placed into inactive status. A person who remains in inactive status for two consecutive annual municipal elections will be removed from the book of registered voters. Mandalas said those placed on inactive status will be returned to active status if they return the return card or if the person votes in an annual municipal election while in inactive status.
The bill reduces the residency requirement for voter eligibility from six months to 30 days. Mandalas said this edit brings city law in line with Delaware law, which prohibits a residency requirement of greater than 30 days.
The bill also defines condominium and domicile.
As of press deadline Thursday, Jan. 10, the bill, introduced by Speaker of the House Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth, and sponsored by Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, had been assigned to the House Administration Committee.
Lodging tax charter change
Rehoboth commissioners submitted a second proposed charter change to the General Assembly. If approved, this change would allow the city to impose a lodging tax of up to 3 percent on hotels, motels and tourist home rentals.
The state already collects a lodging tax of 8 percent on hotels and motels – 5 percent goes to the state’s general fund; 1 percent goes to beach replenishment; 1 percent goes to the State Tourism Office and the remaining 1 percent is split among county tourism offices. None of the revenue goes to city coffers.
As of press deadline Jan. 10, the lodging tax legislation had not been introduced.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
