Rules and Guidelines for Voting at General Meetings

Guidelines for Voting at General Meetings

Guidelines for Voting at General Meetings

Voting is a critical part of the decision-making process in any annual general meetings. Indeed, good voting procedures often lead to good decisions for the organisation as a whole. And like any official process within an organisation, the voting process falls under an approved set of meeting protocols, or the rules and guidelines that must be followed to maintain order as the meeting progresses.

In order to ensure the validity of decisions made at general meetings, it must be run in accordance with your organisation’s rules and with the law.

Here are the common procedures to follow when setting general meetings:

General requirements for a meeting

Formal meetings must be properly convened in accordance with the organisation’s rules.
All members must be formally informed of:

Quorum

Before the meeting begins, a quorum should be confirmed present, and it should be maintained for the duration of the meeting. A quorum refers to the minimum number of people required to consider the meeting valid.

Generally, it is set as a percentage of the membership of the association, allowing the actual number to be flexible in case of changing membership numbers. Most companies set what quorum is required in their rulebooks. If there is no quorum present, no motion can be passed as valid. Proxies can be counted in the quorum as long as the rulebook declares it valid. See how to take your proxy voting online.

Notice and agenda of the meeting

As previously stated, the members of the organisation shall be informed where and when the meeting will take place. The agenda also serves to notify the members which issues will be discussed. This lets the members decide:

Aside from the notice and agenda, the members shall also be given all the necessary documents and reports relevant to the meeting. This enables members to be sufficiently informed regarding the issues to be raised, as well as give them details for casting their votes. Generally, during this time, members are encouraged to submit the relevant forms for appointing proxies or even the voting slips if applicable.

All members are entitled to proper notice in accordance with the rules. If inadequate time and notice were given to the members, the meeting may be invalidated. As such, the time and manner of giving notice must be clearly set out in the rulebook, and must be then strictly adhered to.

Because of the need for proper notice, generally, a meeting cannot go past the scope of the notice. Moreover, members are entitled to receive a copy of the minutes of the meeting as well as the details of the finalised resolutions.

Motions and resolutions

A motion is a proposal set before the meeting for discussion and voting. If enough members agree with the motion, it is then passed and becomes a resolution. Resolutions are valid and binding and must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

Putting forward a motion

Though companies may have different processes for putting forward and voting on a motion, it generally involves the following steps:

In today’s modern world, shareholders have plenty of options for a smooth, well-ordered and reliable voting process. There’s no better time to choose electronic voting methods to ensure accuracy and efficiency throughout the whole process.

Online Voting

Vero can set up the voting system and integrate your choice of conferencing software to our platform that is customised to your requirements. All you have to do is provide us the meeting details and voter list. Our service includes:

Conduct more efficient and seamless conference meetings for your organisation. Contact us to get started.

Guidelines for Voting at General Meetings. Guidelines for Voting at General Meetings. Guidelines for Voting at General Meetings