Section 14-2-704. Action without meeting

   (a) Action required or permitted by this chapter to be taken at a shareholders' meeting may be taken without a meeting if the action is taken by all the shareholders entitled to vote on the action or, if so provided in the articles of incorporation, by persons who would be entitled to vote at a meeting shares having voting power to cast not less than the minimum number (or numbers, in the case of voting by groups) of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take the action at a meeting at which all shareholders entitled to vote were present and voted. The action must be evidenced by one or more written consents bearing the date of signature and describing the action taken, signed by shareholders entitled to take action without a meeting and delivered to the corporation for inclusion in the minutes or filing with the corporate records.

(b) No written consent signed under this Code section shall be valid unless:

   (1) The consenting shareholder has been furnished the same material that, under this chapter, would have been required to be sent to shareholders in a notice of a meeting at which the proposed action would have been submitted to the shareholders for action, including notice of any applicable dissenters' rights as provided in Code Section 14-2-1320; or

   (2) The written consent contains an express waiver of the right to receive the material otherwise required to be furnished.

(c) If the articles of incorporation give the shareholders the right to cumulate their votes, action with respect to any election of directors may be taken without a meeting only by written consent signed by all the shareholders entitled to vote on the election of directors.

(d) If not otherwise fixed under Code Section 14-2-703 or Code Section 14-2-707, the record date for determining shareholders entitled to take action without a meeting is the date the first shareholder signs the consent. No written consent shall be effective to take the corporate action referred to therein unless, within 60 days of the earliest date appearing on a consent delivered to the corporation in the manner required by this Code section, evidence of written consents signed by shareholders sufficient to act by written consent are received by the corporation. A written consent may be revoked by a writing to that effect received by the corporation prior to the receipt by the corporation of unrevoked written consents sufficient in number to take corporate action.

(e) A consent signed under this Code section has the effect of a meeting vote and may be described as such in any document. A consent delivered to the corporation shall become effective on the date of delivery of the last consent required to take action under subsection (d) of this Code section or such later date as it may provide.

(f) If action is taken under this Code section by less than all of the shareholders entitled to vote on the action, all voting shareholders on the record date who did not participate in taking the action shall be given written notice of the action, together with the material described in paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Code section, not more than ten days after the taking of action without a meeting.

(g) If this chapter requires that notice of action by shareholders be given to nonvoting shareholders and the action is taken by voting shareholders without a meeting, the corporation must give its nonvoting shareholders written notice of the action not more than ten days after the taking of action without a meeting. The notice must contain or be accompanied by the same material that, under this chapter, would have been required to be sent to nonvoting shareholders in a notice of meeting at which the proposed action would have been submitted to the shareholders for action.

(h) An electronic transmission which is transmitted by a shareholder that evidences a shareholder's consent, requests or demands an action to be taken by the corporation, or provides notice to the corporation under this chapter shall be deemed to be written, signed, and dated for the purposes of this chapter, provided that any such electronic transmission sets forth or is delivered with information from which the corporation can determine:

   (1) That the electronic transmission was transmitted by the shareholder; and

   (2) The date on which such shareholder transmitted such electronic transmission. The date on which such electronic transmission is transmitted shall be deemed to be the date on which such consent, request, demand, or notice was signed.

Code 1981, § 14-2-704, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 1070, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 946, § 23; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1231, § 7; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1165, § 5; Ga. L. 2004, p. 508, § 9; Ga. L. 2005, p. 60, § 14/HB 95.