On Tuesday, two U.S. investor advocacy groups, As You Sow and the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), filed a request with the SEC asking it to reconsider. They argue that the program violates the SEC’s rules on proxy voting, which restrict shareholders from delegating voting authority beyond a single annual meeting. “Exxon’s violation of current SEC proxy rules is not a technical footnote,” said Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, in a release. The group argued that enabling a company to establish a program that recruits retail shareholder votes would also allow management to entrench itself. “Currently retail voters hold roughly 40% of Exxon shares, and nearly 75% of those shareholders do not currently vote.