Annual director elections may get more difficult due to some new factors being considered by one of the most influential proxy advisory services, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).
U.S. public companies differ on the particulars of how to run their director elections. Some companies take the position that a plurality of the votes will suffice (which is what counts in most U.S. congressional elections, by way of example). ISS has been instrumental in moving public company director elections to a majority-of the-votes-cast standard in uncontested elections, arguing that a win isn’t “real” with a lower threshold.
