When I told my largest shareholder to vote for me; and in exchange, after the election I would let his wife and kids out of the duffle bags and set them free, they yelled and threatened me.. I don't know why.

Of course it is not ethical.
[just in case... the above is only a dramatization to display a point!]

while i agree about not being ethical, the question was more about it being a crime.
Lastly if someone asked who should they vote for or if i had recommendations then i would reply, but i never offer my opinion with out being invited to do so. That would make it at least ethical.
Pg

Your right...
While I do not believe it to be criminal, I personally cannot answer if it is illegal or not. unfortunately unethical and illegal are not synonomous.

~AR

It is only a crime if you vote for them and they do a lousy job. I hope you are not suggesting for one minute that these fine people are running to serve their own self interests and not the Coops. Oh God, never.

FN

I loved the first part of your answer FN.

Perish the thought!! LOL!! I never allow other people to tell me who to vote for but unfortunately some self serving board members keep getting re-elected and various shareholders have been harassed to change their votes by former board members. What can those harassed shareholders do, if anything? The elections are over (THANK GOD!) and some idiots did not get re-elected. But some did. SIGH!

It is difficult to answer or provide you with a straight answer on this one:

1. Who is asking you to vote for John Doe?
2. When is the person asking to change your vote?

Ask yourself if the Teachers'Federation does well to endorse a candidate, or if a well-known individual asks TV viewers or radio listeners to vote for John Doe.

Perhaps you may tell me,"ask" is not "tell". However, "telling" is not "cohersing" or "directing".
and it is not the equivalent of a pre-printed ballot.

Finally, "in the land of the free" I cannot think of intimidation when someone tells you to vote for John Doe and that someone does it because he/she is told.

More detail on this one is required to give a definitive answer on this one!

AdC

Do you receive an annual proxy voting form?

Does the form not suggest (nee recommend) who the current board would like added to the board by name?

Enough said.

Now the unethical part that I can contemplate is that a board member is privy to the proxy returns and deduces that a shareholder has cast a ballot for other than the preferred candidates. Now the board member or shareholder uses this information to ask one or more shareholders to change their vote.

On the other hand, I see nothing wrong with asking a shareholder for whom they voted and if the response is other than the one that is our preference then lobbying the shareholder to modify his or her ballot.

It seems everyone is agreed that it is definitely not illegal; however, the moral or ethical aspect of this is creating a variance of opinion.

While Ted makes a good point, and I am sure many share the belief that there is nothing wrong with asking someone about their vote, I believe that anything that creates question of immorality, may very well be, and thus should be refrained from. (not referring to a pre-election lobbying)I also believe that once the election is complete, no one has the right to know how anyone voted.

When I hold elections in my buildings, only myself and a neutral third party counter are aware of who voted for whom. I recently had a Board member (who was voted in again) ask me to see the final ballots the day afterwards so he can see who voted for whom. I informed him that this was unethical and I will not permit it (was hard to do as a paid manager). While it did get a little heated, the rest of the Board backed my decision with regard to this. Had I disclosed the information, who knows how he would have used it against the people who did not vote as he wished.

Anyway, what I am saying is.. at the end of the day it's left-right-center so go with your own convictions and you will most probably be right (no pun intended!).

~AR

Some other instances if you wish to be concrete:

1. Promising personal benefits to individual voters as a result of being elected, i.e., jumping the parking waiting list, maintennance reduction, etc.
2. Promising specific agenda for the buildings contrary to the common good, i.e., lifting sublet restrictions, reducing or holding maintenance in spite of higher costs.
3. Cohersing - slashing tires of cars of individual shareholders if...

Yes, your point is good - after the fact investigation of votes should not be permitted. In fact, I would rather lie in your case by saying that the tally of votes was eaten by the dog or used in your charcoal grill than giving it out.

Again, the problem is not vote solicitation, but how it is solicited including actions that accompany the solicitation.

AdC

We destroy the proxies very soon after the election after the ballots are certified by the tallier.

Public corporations destroy proxies; we do too.

Less chance for litigation, more expensive for a challenge.

I keep hearing different things about how you can submit a proxy (not here, from coops/boards I personally know). Must you receive a proxy with a Sh's original signature on it, or can you accept a proxy submitted by fax or e-mail?

Since a corporation is a legal entity, I would submit this by way of resolution that is blessed by your legal counsel. Through this chatroom you can get the pulse of how elections are viewed; so, you need to ensure that your process is legal.

(1) Generally, a fax image is considered a substitute of the original in the absence of the original in a court of law. After all, a fax image is as good as a photocopy, i.e., the fax cannot be electronically manipulated to provide you a third document (yes, almost anything today may be manipulated electronically by scanning).

(2) An e-mail of "me" stating that I empower "you" to be my proxy representative is a NO as no signature is associated and anyone may get on your machine and send the message. However, a jpeg file of the executed document sent via e-mail may served as a substitute to the original. Possibly, you will have to retain the source (jpeg and e-mail note) to show the nature and the source of the document in a court of law.

AdC

Has anyone ever used an online voting system? We have trouble getting a majority of the shareholders (incl. proxies) to even hold a meeting. If we want to amend the Proprietary Lease or Bylaws, we would need even more. We think an online voting system might attract more voters.

What makes people NOT VOTE???

If they don't use a a self-stamped envelope (which we have used in the past), I don't think they will do it via phone or electronically. (The analogy is the news given on a rolling monitor; it needs to be read - so, if you do not read the paper, chances are that you will not be motivated to read a rolling electronic monitor).

I think part of the problem is a basic word, "KNOWING". Yes, knowing you have responsibility as a citizen,if in in a democracy, to vote for our representatives or knowing that a shareholder has responsibility to vote the shares.

Probably, you have shares of companies, mutual funds, insurance, or even credit unions. They send you proxies all the time. My question to you, "What do you do with this material?".

Obviously, we want to reap dividends, obtain market growth, etc., but who runs the company - WHO CARES!!! What are the proposals on the table at the annual meeting- WHO CARES!!!.

Interesting enough, great social justice developments in South Africa were the result of shareholders involved in corporate voting. However, the common individuals buy or commit their small wealth to types of investments they do not know and do not expect to know. So... WHAT's the difference with a Co-op???

AdC