Company: SOJE
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000092122-25-000036
Chunk: 93

Company: SOUTHERN CO
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 93
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|                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |     | The Board recommends a voteFORthis proposal |

#### Current Provision in Certificate
Article Eleventh of our Certificate currently requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of our issued and outstanding common stock in order to:

4 Authorize or create any class of stock preferred as to dividends or assets over the common stock or reclassify the common stock or change the issued shares of common stock into the same or a greater or less number of shares of common stock either with or without par value or reduce the par value of the common stock (collectively, Stock Changes); and

4 Amend, alter, change or repeal Article Twelfth (with respect to preemptive rights), Article Eleventh (with respect to Stock Changes and amendments to the Certificate) or any provision contained in the Certificate or in any amendment thereto that provides for the vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the issued and outstanding common stock.

#### Proposed Amendment to Certificate
The proposed amendment to Article Eleventh of the Certificate is as follows:

4 Replace the two-thirds supermajority vote requirement with a requirement that the affirmative vote of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of the Company is required to approve any Stock Change; and

4 Remove the two-thirds supermajority vote requirement necessary to amend, alter, change or repeal certain provisions of the Certificate, as more fully described above, so that all amendments, alterations, changes or repeals of the Certificate require the affirmative vote of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of the capital stock of the Company, which is the default voting standard for such actions under Delaware law.

The text of the proposed amendment to Article Eleventh of the Certificate, marked to show changes from the current Article Eleventh, is shown below. If the proposal is approved, it will become effective upon filing of a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, which we would make promptly after the annual meeting.

### Analysis of Provision
A supermajority vote requirement like the one contained in the Certificate is intended to facilitate corporate governance stability and provide protection against self-interested action by large stockholders by requiring broad stockholder consensus to make certain fundamental changes. While such protection can be beneficial to stockholders, as corporate governance standards have evolved, many stockholders and commentators now view this provision as limiting the Board’s accountability to stockholders and the ability of stockholders to effectively participate in corporate governance.

After considering the arguments in favor of and against the existing super