Apple Inc. (AAPL) shareholders who participated in the company's annual meeting overwhelmingly voted against a proposal that would have urged the consumer electronics giant to disclose how it would handle a potential change in chief executives.

Slightly more than 400 million votes were cast against the measure brought by the Laborers' International Union, while roughly 172 million votes were cast for it, defeating the measure by a margin of more than two-to-one. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple said investors abstained from voting about 3.4 million shares.

The vote on succession planning was closely watched, since Chief Executive Steve Jobs, a cancer survivor and transplant recipient, took a sudden leave of absence for medical reasons in January. More so than many CEOs, Jobs is closely associated with the company's image and success.

Another nonbinding measure, brought by the California Public Employees' Retirement System, called for a majority vote to elect unopposed candidates to the board. It was overwhelmingly approved, winning support from 73.6% of the votes cast, the company's filing said. The board had expressed opposition to the measure.

"This shows that shareowners are not weak-kneed on this issue," said Anne Simpson, head of corporate governance for Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund.

It's rare for a majority-vote resolution introduced by investors--but opposed by the board--to win such widespread support. Since 2005, only 17 of 275 companies saw this kind of shareholder proposal garner more than 73% of votes cast, according to Institutional Shareholder Services, a big proxy-advisory firm.

"They have sent a clear message," Simpson added. "Now is the time for the (Apple) board to act decisively."

Shareholders gathered at the iPhone maker's Cupertino, Calif. headquarters Wednesday to cast votes for the company's board members: former Vice-President Al Gore, Intuit Corp. (INTU) Chairman Bill Campbell, J. Crew Group Inc. (JCG) Chairman Millard Drexler, Avon Products Inc. (AVP) CEO Andrea Jung, Genentech Chairman Arthur D. Levinson, and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) CEO Ronald D. Sugar. Each was handily reelected, as was Jobs, who received nearly 571 million votes in favor of his reelection.

Apple shares closed down 0.1%, at $342.51.

-By Ian Sherr and Joann S. Lublin, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6455; ian.sherr@dowjones.com
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