Seventy-five shareholders show up at the annual shareholders meeting. Three directors must be chosen out of a list of ten candidates. Candidate A gets 30 votes, Candidate B gets 20 votes, and candidate C gets 15 votes. The remaining shareholders vote for the other available candidates. Since Candidates A, B, and C have received the largest amount of votes, they have been elected directors at the valid shareholder meeting.
Some states require a majority of the votes cast in order to elect a director.
The selection of directors may also be staggered. For example, the articles of incorporation may have one third of the directors elected to three-year terms. This allows for greater continuity and less disruption regarding the functioning of the corporation. In a closely held corporation, it is sometimes mandated in the articles of incorporation that all shareholders be present at a shareholder meeting in order to constitute a quorum so that directors can be elected. The danger here is deadlock, in that the mere absence of a single shareholder can stymie the corporation's ability to elect a viable and functioning board of directors.