Welcome to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders for Ross Stores, Inc. Our meeting chair for conducting today's session is Mr. Ken Jew. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. I'll turn the meeting over to your chairperson. Ken, please go ahead.
Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us today. My name is Ken Jew. I am the company's corporate secretary, and I will serve as chairperson for today's meeting. We welcome you to the Ross Stores, Inc. 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and I hereby call the meeting to order. This meeting is being held pursuant to the notice of annual meeting sent or made available to the company stockholders on or about April 7th, 2026. The agenda for the meeting is to vote to elect the members of the Board of Directors and to vote on the three additional proposals described in the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and in this proxy statement. I have been appointed secretary of this meeting and will record the minutes. Kathy Blackwell, representing Broadridge Financial Solutions, has been appointed Inspector of Elections for the meeting.
Let's now proceed with the items of business on the agenda. It is now shortly after 1:30 P.M. Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 20th. The polls are now open for voting on all proposals and will be closed at the conclusion of the description of the four proposals. If you have already voted, you do not need to vote again at this meeting unless you wish to change your vote. If you have not voted or if you would like to change your vote, you may do so by clicking the Vote Here button on the Annual Meeting web portal screen and by following the instructions. Any such votes must be submitted before the polls close. The holders of more than 285 million shares are represented at today's meeting, either online or by proxy.
Since there were approximately 322 million shares of the company's common stock outstanding at the close of business on the record date, more than a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock is present or represented here today. A quorum is therefore present, and the meeting is authorized to conduct business. After the polls close, I will announce the preliminary results on the matters submitted for vote. There are four proposals submitted to the stockholders in the notice of annual meeting and proxy statement that are being presented for a vote at this meeting. The first proposal is the election of nine directors, each to hold office for a one-year term and until their successor is elected. The Board of Directors has nominated for election those persons set forth in the proxy statement for this meeting, each of whom is an incumbent member of the board.
The second proposal is approval of the company's 2026 Equity Incentive Plan. The third proposal is an advisory vote to approve the company's Executive Compensation Program. The fourth proposal is ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending January 30, 2027. As a reminder, each of the four proposals is discussed in further detail in the company's proxy materials. At this time, please submit any additional votes relating to the four proposals as the polls are about to close. It is now approximately 1:35 P.M. Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 20th, and the polls are now closed as to voting on all matters. At this time, I can announce that the preliminary report of the Inspector of Elections indicates the following results.
First, the nine director nominees identified in the proxy statement have each been elected as directors of the company, each to serve for a one-year term ending in 2027 and until their successors are elected. Second, the vote to approve the company's 2026 Equity Incentive Plan has passed. Third, the advisory vote to approve the company's Executive Compensation Program has passed. Fourth, the proposal to ratify the appointment of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent registered public accounting firm has passed. We will file a Form 8-K with the SEC within four business days to report the final voting results. At this time, I would like to turn the meeting over to Connie Kao, Senior Vice President, Investor and Media Relations, to administer the question-and-answer session. Connie?
Thank you, Ken. We will now respond to questions submitted through the virtual annual meeting portal that relate to the meeting topics. Please see instructions on the meeting website on how to submit questions. If someone would like to ask a question, please do so now. We will pause to allow shareholders to submit questions.
At this time, there are no questions. This concludes the question-and-answer part of the meeting. Ken, I'll turn the meeting back to you.
Thank you, Connie Kao. There is no further business to come before the meeting. Therefore, the annual meeting of stockholders is adjourned. Thank you for your attendance.
That concludes our meeting today. You may now disconnect.