(a) Unless otherwise provided in the charter, directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast by the shares entitled to vote in the election at a meeting at which a quorum is present.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 48-17-209

  • Charter: includes amended and restated charters and articles of merger. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Directors: means natural persons, designated in the charter or bylaws or elected or appointed by the incorporators, and their successors and natural persons elected or appointed to act as members of the board, irrespective of the names or titles by which such persons are described. See Tennessee Code 48-51-201
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
  • Shareholder: means the person in whose name shares are registered in the records of a corporation or the beneficial owner of shares to the extent of the rights granted by a nominee certificate on file with a corporation. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Voting group: means all shares of one (1) or more classes or series that under the charter or chapters 11-27 of this title are entitled to vote and be counted together collectively on a matter at a meeting of shareholders. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
(b) Shareholders do not have a right to cumulate their votes for directors unless the charter so provides.
(c) A statement included in the charter that “(all) (a designated voting group of) shareholders are entitled to cumulate their votes for directors” (or words of similar import) means that the shareholders designated are entitled to multiply the number of votes they are entitled to cast by the number of directors for whom they are entitled to vote and cast the product for a single candidate or distribute the product among two (2) or more candidates.
(d) Shares otherwise entitled to vote cumulatively may not be voted cumulatively at a particular meeting unless:

(1) The meeting notice or proxy statement accompanying the notice states conspicuously that cumulative voting is authorized; or
(2) A shareholder who has the right to cumulate that shareholder’s votes gives notice to the corporation no fewer than forty-eight (48) hours before the time set for the meeting of that shareholder’s intent to cumulate that shareholder’s votes during the meeting, and if one (1) shareholder gives this notice, all other shareholders in the same voting group participating in the election are entitled to cumulate their votes without giving further notice.
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