The Dilemma of Quorum

Quorum is the minimum number of individuals present at a meeting to make proceedings valid. It is typically 25% of corporation owners, but may vary depending on the purpose of the meeting. Failure to achieve quorum has repercussions and costs, such as rescheduled meetings, delayed decisions, and disillusioned owners. Proxies can be used to obtain quorum. Ben Zelikovitz is co-founder of GetQuorum, an online solution for electronic proxies, electronic voting and governance notice distribution.

Electronic voting offers a smarter, more elegant and more effective solution to the dilemma of quorum. Votes can be submitted using a computer or smartphone, results are tabulated and undisclosed until the scheduled meeting, and any meeting where quorum is not achieved can be cancelled or rescheduled. This reduces the risk and cost of failing to achieve quorum.