12470-12477
CORPORATIONS CODE
SECTION 12470-12477
12470. As to directors elected by members, there shall be available to the members reasonable nomination and election procedures given the nature, size and operations of the corporation. 12473. Where a corporation distributes any material soliciting a vote for any nominee for director in any publication owned or controlled by the corporation, it shall make available to each other nominee, in the same material, an equal amount of space, with equal prominence, to be used by the nominee for a purpose reasonably related to the election. 12474. Upon written request by any nominee for election to the board and the payment of the reasonable costs of mailing (including postage), a corporation shall within 10 business days after such request (provided payment has been made) mail to all members, or such portion of them as the nominee may reasonably specify, any material, which the nominee may furnish and which is reasonably related to the election, unless the corporation within five business days after the request allows the nominee, at the corporation's option, the rights set forth in either paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 12600. 12475. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), no corporation may decline to publish or mail material, otherwise required to be published or mailed on behalf of any nominee under this article, on the basis of the content of such material. (b) Neither the corporation, nor its agents, officers, directors, or employees, may be held criminally liable, liable for any negligence (active or passive) or otherwise liable for damages to any person on account of any material which is supplied by a nominee for director and which it mails or publishes pursuant to Section 12473 or 12474 but the nominee on whose behalf such material was published or mailed shall be liable and shall indemnify and hold the corporation, its agents, officers, directors, and employees and each of them harmless from all demands, costs, including reasonable legal fees and expenses, claims, damages and causes of action arising out of such material or any such mailing or publication. (c) Nothing in this section shall prevent a corporation or any of its agents, officers, directors, or employees from seeking a court order relieving the corporation from its obligation under Section 12473 or 12474 on the ground the material will expose the moving party to liability. 12476. Without authorization of the board, no corporation funds may be expended to support a nominee for director after there are more people nominated for director than can be elected. 12477. An action challenging the validity of any election, appointment or removal of a director or directors must be commenced within nine months after the election, appointment or removal. If no such action is commenced, in the absence of fraud, any election, appointment or removal of a director is conclusively presumed valid nine months thereafter if the only defect in the election, appointment or removal is the failure to give notice as provided in this part or in the corporation's articles or bylaws.