Q “I live in a co-op in and had a question about proxy voting. In a recent vote, some proxies were left unassigned although everything else was filled out correctly. Does this make them automatically void because they were incomplete?” A “The answer is very simple.” says Attorney Geoffrey R. Mazel, a principal of the Manhattan-based law offices of Hankin & Mazel, PLLC. “If the proxy was not assigned to an individual it is null and void and can not be counted for anything. A proxy is a written delegation from a shareholder to an individual named in the document. The express purpose of a proxy is so that the designated person in the proxy can act in the place of the shareholder at a meeting of shareholders. Also, the law requires that a proxy be signed and dated by the shareholder. Accordingly, if an individual is not named by the proxy holder to act in their place and stead, the proxy has not effect whatsoever. For this reason it is critical that the shareholder fill out a proxy carefully, as well as signing and dating same before submitting at a shareholders meeting.”