§ 19 — Meeting of members

(1)(a) The annual meeting shall be held each year during the months of January, February or March or such other month as may be approved by the Department. The meeting shall be held at the time, place and in the manner set forth in the bylaws. Any special meetings of the members of the credit union shall be held at the time, place and in the manner set forth in the bylaws. Unless otherwise set forth in this Act, quorum requirements for meetings of members shall be established by a credit union in its bylaws. Notice of all meetings must be given by the secretary of the credit union at least 7 days before the date of such meeting, either by handing a written or printed notice to each member of the credit union, by mailing the notice to the member at his address as listed on the books and records of the credit union, by posting a notice of the meeting in three conspicuous places, including the office of the credit union, by posting the notice of the meeting on the credit union's website, or by disclosing the notice of the meeting in membership newsletters or account statements. (b) Unless expressly prohibited by the articles of incorporation or bylaws and subject to applicable requirements of this Act, the board of directors may provide by resolution that members may attend, participate in, act in, and vote at any annual meeting or special meeting through the use of a conference telephone or interactive technology, including, but not limited to, electronic transmission, internet usage, or remote communication, by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can communicate with each other. Participation through the use of a conference telephone or interactive technology shall constitute attendance, presence, and representation in person at the annual meeting or special meeting of the person or persons so participating and count towards the quorum required to conduct business at the meeting. The following conditions shall apply to any virtual meeting of the members: (i) the credit union must internally possess or retain the technological capacity to facilitate virtual meeting attendance, participation, communication, and voting; and (ii) the members must receive notice of the use of a virtual meeting format and appropriate instructions for joining, participating, and voting during the virtual meeting at least 7 days before the virtual meeting. (2) On all questions and at all elections, except election of directors, each member has one vote regardless of the number of his shares. There shall be no voting by proxy except on the election of directors, proposals for merger or voluntary dissolution. Members may vote on questions, including, without limitation, the approval of mergers and voluntary dissolutions under this Act, and in elections by electronic record if approved by the board of directors. Members shall have the right to vote on all such questions in person by written ballot. All voting on the election of directors shall be by ballot, but when there is no contest, written or electronic ballots need not be cast. The record date to be used for the purpose of determining which members are entitled to notice of or to vote at any meeting of members, may be fixed in advance by the directors on a date not more than 90 days nor less than 10 days prior to the date of the meeting. If no record date is fixed by the directors, the first day on which notice of the meeting is given, mailed or posted is the record date. (3) Regardless of the number of shares owned by a society, association, club, partnership, other credit union or corporation, having membership in the credit union, it shall be entitled to only one vote and it may be represented and have its vote cast by its designated agent acting on its behalf pursuant to a resolution adopted by the organization's board of directors or similar governing authority; provided that the credit union shall obtain a certified copy of such resolution before such vote may be cast. (4) A member may revoke a proxy by delivery to the credit union of a written statement to that effect, by execution of a subsequently dated proxy, by execution of an electronic record, or by attendance at a meeting and voting in person. (5) The use of electronic records for member voting pursuant to this Section shall employ a security procedure that meets the attribution criteria set forth in Section 9 of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. (6) As used in this Section, "electronic", "electronic record", and "security procedure" have the meanings ascribed to those terms in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 103-154, eff. 6-30-23; 104-403, eff. 1-1-26 .)