Virginia Code 13.1-847.1: Voting procedures and inspectors of elections
A. A corporation may appoint one or more inspectors to act at a meeting of members in connection with determining voting results. Each inspector, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, shall certify in writing that the inspector will faithfully execute the duties of inspector with strict impartiality and according to the best of his ability.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 13.1-847.1
- Board of directors: means the group of persons vested with the management of the business of the corporation irrespective of the name by which such group is designated, and "director" means a member of the board of directors. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
- in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
- Member: means one having a membership interest in a corporation in accordance with the provisions of its articles of incorporation or bylaws. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
- Person: includes an individual and an entity. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
- Principal office: means the office, in or out of the Commonwealth, where the principal executive offices of a domestic or foreign corporation are located, or, if there are no such offices, the office, in or out of the Commonwealth, so designated by the board of directors. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
- Proceeding: includes civil suit and criminal, administrative and investigatory action conducted by a governmental agency. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
- Voting power: means the current power to vote in the election of directors. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
- written: means any information in the form of a document. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
B. The inspectors shall (i) ascertain the number of members and the voting power of each, (ii) determine the number of the members represented at a meeting and the validity of proxy appointments and ballots, (iii) count all votes, (iv) determine, and retain for a reasonable period a record of the disposition of, any challenges made to any determination by the inspectors, and (v) certify their determination of the number of members represented at the meeting and their count of the votes. The inspectors may appoint or retain other persons or entities to assist the inspectors in the performance of their duties, and may rely on information provided by such persons and other persons, including those appointed to tabulate votes, unless the inspectors believe reliance is unwarranted. In any court proceeding there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the report of the inspectors is correct.
C. No ballot, proxies, or votes, nor any revocations thereof or changes thereto, shall be accepted by the inspectors after the closing of the polls unless the circuit court of the city or county where the corporation’s principal office is located or, if none in the Commonwealth, where its registered office is located, upon application by a member, shall determine otherwise.
D. In determining the validity of proxies and ballots and in counting the votes, the inspectors shall be limited to an examination of the proxies, any envelopes submitted with those proxies, any information provided in accordance with subsection B of § 13.1-847, ballots, and the regular books and records of the corporation. If the inspectors consider other reliable information for the limited purpose permitted herein, they shall specify, at the time that they make their certification pursuant to clause (v) of subsection B, the precise information that they considered, including the person or persons from whom they obtained the information, when the information was obtained, the means by which the information was obtained, and the basis for their belief that such information is accurate and reliable.
E. If authorized by the board of directors, any member vote to be taken by written ballot may be satisfied by a ballot submitted by electronic transmission by the member or the member’s proxy, provided that any such electronic transmission shall either set forth or be submitted with information from which it may be determined that the electronic transmission was authorized by the member or the member’s proxy. A member who votes by a ballot submitted by electronic transmission is deemed present at the meeting of members.