Co-operative Societies Act 1979 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 4 · Rights and Liabilities of Members
42. Votes of members
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Each individual member of a primary society has only one vote in the affairs of the society, irrespective of the number of shares the member holds and that vote must be exercised in person and not by proxy.
member
“member” includes an individual person or institution qualifying for membership in a co-operative society, who or which join in the application for the registration of a society, and an individual person or institution admitted to membership after registration in accordance with this Act, the Rules and the by-laws;
Each institutional member of a primary society has such number of votes and such voting powers as are provided by the by‑laws.
institutional member
“institutional member” means a society, a trade union or a platform work association;
In a secondary society or in an apex organisation, each member has as many votes as may be provided by the by-laws of the secondary society or the apex organisation.
secondary society
“secondary society” means a society, each of whose registered members is a co‑operative society, a trade union or a platform work association;
Despite subsection (1), where a member lacks capacity to manage the member’s property and affairs —
if the member had created a lasting power of attorney conferring on a donee authority to make decisions about the member’s property and affairs (either generally or for the purposes of this Act), that donee may vote on behalf of the member; or
if a deputy has been, or is deemed to have been, appointed to make decisions on the member’s behalf in relation to the member’s property and affairs (either generally or for the purposes of this Act), that deputy may vote on behalf of the member.
In subsection (4) —
“deputy”, “donee” and “lasting power of attorney” have the meanings given by section 2(1) of the Mental Capacity Act 2008; and
a member lacks capacity in relation to a matter if the member lacks capacity within the meaning of section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act 2008 in relation to that matter.