# What happens to voting privileges in a short-sale situation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-voting-privileges-in-a-short-sale-situation/246156>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 20, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-voting-privileges-in-a-short-sale-situation/246156 "2004-05-20T11:24:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-voting-privileges-in-a-short-sale-situation/246156/1 "2004-05-20T11:24:50Z")

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I understand that if I short, say, 10 shares of XYZ corp, and XYZ pays $1/share dividend while my position is open, then I owe the real owner the the stock $10. But what happens to stock voting privileges? E.g.,

There are 100 shares of XYZ in circulation. Alice owns 48 of them; Bob, 52. I short-sell 4 shares, borrowing (transparently) from Bob and selling them to Alice. Total shares: Alice has 52 in her possession, Bob has 48, though he is owed 4 more. A call goes out to liquidate the company and donate all the proceeds to the Free Pony and Ice Cream Party for the 2004 election. It comes down to a shareholder vote–Alice is in favor, Bob is against. Who wins out? Why?