From: dalelamm [dalelamm@ameritech.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 11:10 PM
To: rule-comments@sec.gov
Subject: S7-19-03 comment

Sirs,

I strongly urge the SEC to approve  the proposed rule, Security Holder
Director Nominations, Section 14 of the SEC Act of 1934, which governs
shareholder access to the proxy statement and ballot.  This is the single
biggest thing the SEC can do to help restore my confidence and that of all
investors in our capital markets.

Much has been accomplished by New York AG Spitzer and others these past two
years, but there is still more that can be done. The process by which
corporate directors are elected today is a farce, reminding one of the old
Soviet system. Nobody ever seems to lose. We can do better than this.

Even a simple change such as allowing a shareholder to aggregate his/her
votes, and apply them to just one or two deserving candidates on a slate
would be a start.

The right to withold votes confers no meaningful power today. An improvement
would be the right to cast "negative" votes. That is, if I own 1000 shares
of XYZ, I should be able to cast minus-1000 votes against one undesirable
candidate on the slate. Or any combination of positive and negative votes as
I please, so long as the total number of votes cast is equal to the number
of voting shares I own.

Dale Lamm