Why Are Ballots and Proxies Numbered?

One of the questions we receive regarding ballots and proxies is why they have numbers on them. The reason for the numbers is to assure that we are getting the right number of ballots and proxies to each slip owner because we have so many individuals that own more than one slip. We have two hundred eleven slips that are owned by one hundred ninety two individuals. Another reason they are numbered is so we can verify the ballot or proxy. We sometimes get calls from slip owners asking us for another ballot or proxy because they have misplaced the ones they received in the mail. Some slip owners will send their ballot and signed proxy back to the office. The number on the ballot and proxy allows us to discard the proxy and validate the ballot when this occurs. Finally, on the day of our annual meeting, slip owners sometimes arrive and tell us they have forgotten their ballot and would like another one. Since we know the number associated with that ballot, we can nullify that ballot and issue a new ballot to that slip owner with a new number assigned. This way if the other numbered ballot should show up we know it is nullified and will not be counted twice. This is simply our method of making sure each ballot or proxy is counted correctly.