Investors have voted in record numbers for US companies to adopt majority vote provisions for director elections. In the US, shares cannot be voted against a board candidate, so a director can be elected on the back of a single yes vote.

Investor groups including trade union pension funds and the Council for Institutional Investors have lobbied companies to require directors to receive a majority of votes cast to be elected. More than 50 companies have faced a shareholder resolution on this issue, said Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy vote adviser.