Recently a motion came up to the Apple Shareholders & the Apple Board on changing the way the Board Members were elected.
Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. investors, gathered today at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, passed a measure that would elect board members with a majority vote, rather than a plurality.
So previously the Apple Board members were elected on a Plurality basis. Â What is a Plurality? Â Simply stated, the most votes for any choice in an election wins, and the winner does not need a majority vote.
So, in a three-way vote, with 100 people voting:
- Candidate 1, gets 45 votes
- Candidate 2, gets 40 votes
- Candidate 3, gets 15 votes
Who wins? Â In a majority vote, where the winner needs to have 50% or more of the votes, no one would win. Â In a plurality vote, Candidate 1 would win, since he has received the most votes.
I presume the Board members prefer the plurality vote, since it reduces the chances of a needing a secondary vote, since you do not need a majority to win the vote. Â The shareholders presumably prefer the majority vote, since it helps make sure that the majority of the Shareholders agree with the vote.