And there are even cases, she said, in which two people are owners of record of one apartment and each gives a proxy to a different proxy holder.
It would not be at all unusual, Mr. Samson said, for a board candidate to ask a shareholder who has already submitted a proxy vote for another candidate to submit a superceding proxy to a different proxy holder.
With a discretionary proxy, the proxy holder can vote for whomever he chooses.
With a directed proxy, the shareholder tells the proxy holder to vote for specific candidates.
With such proxies, she said, the proxy holder can vote for whomever he wishes, even if there was an understanding between the shareholder and the proxy holder that the shareholder's votes would be cast in a certain way.
Shareholders who vote by proxy indicate on the form the candidate or candidates of their choice and then name the Honest Ballot Association as the proxy holder.
With a "general" proxy, the holder can vote any way he wants.
They are now involved in a proxy fight for the votes of Wachovia holders.
Republicans and other critics say the Holder nomination is not simply a proxy fight over lingering wounds from the Clinton era.
Holders of 98.5% of the shares approved the deal in a proxy vote although, in terms of numbers, only 84% supported the deal, reflecting the unhappiness of the bank's army of small shareholders.
Now, however, a majority of votes is often held by a relatively small number of institutions, and a proxy fight can be mounted for much less, with communications done by phone and e-mail with major holders.
