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Does anyone know if it's legally required to have a space for a coop's SHARES on a Proxy form? When I was on the board, we always included a line for that. The one I received this year (from a new Mgmt. company) does not include it. Thanks.
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The official number of shares per unit should be maintained by the Board Secretary and/or Managing Agent. A line on a proxy form where the share count is supposed to be filled in by the shareholder is meaningless because it is often inaccurate or wildly exaggerated.
I've seen a number of different voting schemes, and as far as I know, the Bylaws are the authoritative source for determining how votes are counted.
We also have a line for number of shares on our standard proxy, but the presence of the line isn't terribly important. The apartment has a fixed number of shares and this number is easily verified, regardless of what the shareholder writes on the line.
Concerning the prior comment by "NYC": in the great majority of coops, voting is *absolutely* weighted by shares. One vote per unit is rare in coops. In standard voting, if your unit has 100 shares and your board has seven members, then each person you vote for gets 100, regardless of whether you vote for one person or seven. With cumulative voting - which is only allowed if your coop's Certificate of Incorporation permits it - you can pile up your votes on fewer people. Continuing the example, you could vote 700 shares for one person instead of 100 shares for each of seven people.
Thanks Carl, that's what ment. Your explanation was much clearer. one ballot per unit, one vote for each candidate. I come from background n corporate proxies where the shares are a necessity on the ballots.
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Most cooperatives allow one vote regardless of how many shares the unit has. Unless your co-op has cumulative voting which is one vote per share, it is not necessary to have the number of shares on the Proxy/Ballot. A provision in your occupancy agreement and house rules will explain your voting procedures.
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