AGM and Proxy Voting Services

Electoral Reform Services provides a wide range of General Meeting services including proxy voting and independent reports on polls. These can be used by quoted companies, membership organisations, building societies, mutual insurers, friendly societies, co-operatives and credit unions.

An Annual General Meeting (AGM) is part of the public image of an organisation and should be an opportunity for an effective dialogue with its members or shareholders. However it can also be a legal minefield where any slip up in practice or procedure is extremely hazardous. Other forms of General Meeting, like an SGM or an EGM, can be even more challenging to manage, as they often involve voting on controversial proposals at short notice.

ERS can take over the burden of administering General Meeting votes, ensuring they are properly conducted. Simply by involving us, an organisation's Board makes a public statement about its own accountability, and its belief in member representation and fair procedures. Our proxy voting services leverage our specialist facilities to maximise turnout whilst reducing cost. Where permissible, we can offer your members the convenience of voting by Internet and Telephone/Text. Above all else, our authority as the leading independent scrutineer minimises the risk of the results ever being challenged.

Alternatively, companies can appoint ERS as an independent assessor to provide an independent report on a poll. Our reports meet all the demands of the Companies Act 2006, and can be used to check that your existing poll procedures meet required standards. Quoted companies can guarantee in advance our availability to act as their Independent Assessor by registering with us. This provides low cost cover and safeguards the company from the risk of not being able to find an available, suitably qualified, independent assessor within a week of an independent report being requisitioned ? the statutory deadline prescribed in the 2006 Companies Act.

Our AGM/General Meeting clients include:

• Nationwide Building Society
  
• Vodafone
  
• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
  
• NFU Mutual
  
• ScotWest Credit Union
  
• Law Society
  
• HSBC

The AGM/General Meeting services that we provide include:

• independent report on a poll;
  
• design, print and personalisation of voting material including electronic forms;
  
• filling & mailing (or e-mailing) proxy voting packs;
  
• receipt & count of returned proxy forms, whether by post, internet, telephone, or text;
  
• secure, customised internet voting sites and telephone voting services;
  
• management of voting at the AGM, including the option of using hand-held voting devices; and
  
• independent scrutineer's report.