California Corporations Code 5517 – (a) If the name signed on a ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy …
(a) If the name signed on a ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy appointment corresponds to the name of a member, the corporation if acting in good faith is entitled to accept the ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy appointment and give it effect as the act of the member.
(b) If the name signed on a ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy appointment does not correspond to the record name of a member, the corporation if acting in good faith is nevertheless entitled to accept the ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy appointment and give it effect as the act of the member if any of the following occur:
Terms Used In California Corporations Code 5517
- Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
- 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.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See California Corporations Code 18
- Signature: includes mark when the signer cannot write, such signer's name being written near the mark by a witness who writes his own name near the signer's name. See California Corporations Code 17
(1) The member is an entity and the name signed purports to be that of an officer or agent of the entity.
(2) The name signed purports to be that of an attorney-in-fact of the member and if the corporation requests, evidence acceptable to the corporation of the signatory’s authority to sign for the member has been presented with respect to the ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy appointment.
(3) Two or more persons hold the membership as cotenants or fiduciaries and the name signed purports to be the name of at least one of the coholders and the person signing appears to be acting on behalf of all the coholders.
(c) The corporation is entitled to reject a ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy appointment if the secretary or other officer or agent authorized to tabulate votes, acting in good faith, has a reasonable basis for doubt concerning the validity of the signature or the signatory’s authority to sign for the member.
(d) The corporation and any officer or agent thereof who accepts or rejects a ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy appointment in good faith and in accordance with the standards of this section shall not be liable in damages to the member for the consequences of the acceptance or rejection.
(e) Corporate action based on the acceptance or rejection of a ballot, consent, waiver, or proxy appointment under this section is valid unless a court of competent jurisdiction determines otherwise.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 589, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 1997.)