Iowa Code 501A.812 – Voting rights
The board may fix a date not more than sixty days, or a shorter time period provided in the articles or bylaws, before the date of a meeting of members as the date for the determination of the owners of membership interests entitled to notice of and entitled to vote at the meeting. When a date is so fixed, only members on that date are entitled to notice of and permitted to vote at that meeting of members.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 501A.812
- Articles: means the articles of organization of a cooperative as originally filed or subsequently amended as provided in this chapter. See Iowa Code 501A.102
- Board: means the board of directors of a cooperative. See Iowa Code 501A.102
- Cooperative: means a business association organized under this chapter. See Iowa Code 501A.102
- Member: means a person or entity reflected on the books of a cooperative as the owner of governance rights of a membership interest of the cooperative and includes patron and nonpatron members. See Iowa Code 501A.102
- Membership interest: includes patron membership interests and nonpatron membership interests. See Iowa Code 501A.102
- Patron: means a person or entity who conducts patronage with the cooperative, regardless of whether the person is a member. See Iowa Code 501A.102
- Patron membership interest: means the membership interest requiring the holder to conduct patronage for or with the cooperative, as specified by the cooperative to receive financial rights or distributions. See Iowa Code 501A.102
- person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
The articles or bylaws may give or prescribe the manner of giving a creditor, security holder, or other person a right to vote on patron membership interests under this section.
Membership interests owned by two or more members may be voted by any one of them unless the cooperative receives written notice from any one of them denying the authority of that person to vote those membership interests.
Except as provided in subsection 3, an owner of a nonpatron membership interest or a patron membership interest with more than one vote that is entitled to vote may vote any portion of the membership interest in any way the member chooses. If a member votes without designating the proportion voted in a particular way, the member is considered to have voted all of the membership interest in that way.