Welcome to the annual meeting for Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. Our host for today's call is Rob DelPriore, Secretary. I will now turn the call over to your host. Mr. DelPriore, you may begin.
Thank you, Morgan. Hello and welcome to the Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. 2026 annual meeting of shareholders. My name is Rob DelPriore, I will be serving as the Secretary for today's meeting. I will review several matters regarding the functioning of today's meeting, then we'll turn the meeting over to Eric Bolton, our Chairman of the Board of Directors, who is serving as the Chairman of today's meeting. Also joining us is Brad Hill, our President and CEO. We have appointed Ken Frank from the Carideo Group as the Inspector of Elections for today's meeting, he has taken his oath to serve in that capacity. Also joining us at the meeting today is Mary Martini with Ernst & Young LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm.
Ms. Martini will be able to respond to your questions germane to the role of Ernst & Young LLP during our question and answer session. If you join today's meeting as a shareholder, you can submit a question to Mr. Bolton, Mr. Hill, or Ernst & Young by using the Ask a Question box. In accordance with the rules of conduct for today's meeting, we will only respond to questions relevant to the proposals being considered. If time does not allow for all questions to be answered during the meeting, we will address unanswered germane questions on our corporate website. You can view all of the rules of conduct in effect for today's meeting in the Meeting Materials section in the lower right-hand corner of the console screen.
There you will also find a copy of the affidavit of distribution confirming that notice of this meeting was given, and shareholders can access the registered shareholder list. As noted in the notice and proxy statement previously distributed, the record date for voting at this year's annual shareholder meeting was the close of business on March 13th, 2026. A copy of both the notice and the affidavit of distribution will be incorporated into the minutes for the meeting. The registered shareholder list shows that holders of 116,347,636 shares of common stock of the company are entitled to vote at this meeting.
We are informed by Mr. Frank that there are represented in person or by proxy 105,781,911 shares of common stock, or approximately 91% of all of the shares entitled to vote at the meeting. Based upon the percentage of the total common shares of the company held by holders of record in attendance at the meeting, either in person or by proxy, a quorum is present. This meeting is now duly convened for the purpose of transacting the business properly brought before it. If you previously voted through any of the means outlined in the proxy materials for this meeting, your shares will be voted accordingly.
If you want to vote during the meeting or if you want to change your previously submitted vote, you can do so by clicking the Vote Here button in the middle of the console screen. I will now turn the floor over to Eric Bolton, Chairman of the Board of Directors, to conduct the formal business of the meeting.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of the entire Board and my fellow associates, I would like to thank you for joining us for this year's annual shareholder meeting. Before I present the proposals for vote, I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize Claude Nielsen and Gary Shorb, who are retiring from our Board of Directors today. Mr. Nielsen contributed a combined 33 years of service to MAA and previously to Colonial Properties Trust prior to our merger. Mr. Shorb has served on our Board since 2012. Their steadfast leadership and representation of the long-term interest of our shareholders helped shape the company we are today. I am thankful for their guidance and oversight they have provided. On behalf of the MAA associates and my fellow Board members, we'd like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude for their contributions and exemplary service.
I will now review the three proposals which have been properly presented for consideration at today's meeting. The first proposal is the election of 9 directors to serve until the 2027 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. The Board of Directors recommends a vote for each of the following Director nominees: H. Bolton Jr., Deborah Caplan, John P. Case, Tamara Fischer, Alan V. Graf Jr., Brad Hill, Edith Kelly-Green, Sheila K. McGrath, and David P. Stockert. The second proposal is an advisory vote to approve the compensation of our named executive officers as outlined and disclosed in the proxy statement. On behalf of the Compensation Committee, the Board of Directors recommends a vote for this advisory vote.
The third proposal is a ratification of Ernst & Young LLP to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. On behalf of the Audit Committee, our Board of Directors recommends a vote for the ratification of Ernst & Young LLP. I now declare the polls open for each matter to be voted today, May 19, 2026. As a reminder, any shareholder wishing to vote or to change their previously submitted vote may do so by clicking on the Vote Here button in the lower right corner of the console screen. While we allow time for voting to complete, I'll ask Rob to present any meeting-related questions which have been submitted by shareholders.
Mr. Chairman, we have received no questions.
Okay. Well, thank you, Rob, for that. Well, I'm sorry. Okay, well, now that all shareholders have had an opportunity to vote, I declare the polls closed and request the secretary report the preliminary results.
The Inspector of Elections has informed us that the ballots have been tabulated and that the nine Director nominees presented in the proxy statement were elected to serve until the 2027 annual meeting of shareholders and until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. The advisory vote to approve the compensation presented in the proxy statement of our named executive officers has been approved, and Ernst & Young LLP has been ratified to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. The final tabulation of these votes will be filed on a Form 8-K with the SEC.
Thank you, Rob. That completes the official business of today's meeting. With that, I declare the 2026 annual meeting of shareholders of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc.