Question

Bilkis Brans has 20,000 outstanding shares with four shareholders. Ester owns 9,000 shares, Mendez owns 4,000 shares, Judy owns 4,000 shares, and Aaron owns 3,000 shares. Suppose that two directors of the corporation are to be elected from a potential pool of five candidates. Ester favors candidates 1 and 5, Mendez favors candidates 2 and 4, Judy favors candidates 3 and 4, and Aaron favors candidates 2 and 3. If straight voting occurs, which of the two candidates are likely to win?

A) candidates 1 and 5
B) candidates 1 and 4
C) candidates 2 and 3
D) candidates 2 and 4

Answer 1

Using straight voting, Ester's preference will dictate the election outcome, as her share count is the highest. Therefore, her favored candidates, 1 and 5, are the most likely to win.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the scenario where Bilkis Brans has 20,000 outstanding shares with four shareholders, and straight voting is used to elect directors, the candidates that are likely to win are determined by the number of shares backing them. Here's the share distribution:

• Ester owns 9,000 shares and favors candidates 1 and 5.
• Mendez owns 4,000 shares and favors candidates 2 and 4.
• Judy owns 4,000 shares and favors candidates 3 and 4.
• Aaron owns 3,000 shares and favors candidates 2 and 3.

With straight voting, each shareholder gets as many votes as shares they own for each director seat, but they cannot combine them to multiply their votes for a single candidate. Therefore the answer is A) candidates 1 and 5.