ThinkBoxx, available in the U.S. since January, caters to homes that are already built. HomeBoxx, which will be available this summer, is being sold to developers and contractors building new homes. EquiServe offers electronic proxy voting as part of its investor-related services for corporations. Shareholders still get their proxy materials in the mail from the company, but they have the option of going to the proxy voting Web site and entering in a code they receive with their paper ballots. That takes them to a voting page, where they can enter their choices and click a button to vote.
Shareholders can opt to receive their proxy information electronically in subsequent years.
The one wild card is that it isn t clear how on-line voting will change the dynamics of proxy votes. At the moment, proxy votes usually are such desultory affairs that proposals by the corporation almost always win, while proposals from outside the corporation almost always lose. Bringing in lots of additional voters might change things. In any case, you still will have to attend the annual meeting to hear gadflies ask their embarrassing questions. While the Internet has educated customers and given them leverage over sellers, the technologists of the world are doing everything they can to help companies reclaim some of that leverage.