Proxy voting is a form of voting whereby some members of a decision-making body may delegate their voting power to other members of the same body to vote in their absence, and/or to select additional representatives. A person so designated is called a "proxy" and the person designating him or her is called a "principal". Proxy appointments can be used to form a voting bloc that can exercise greater influence in deliberations or negotiations.

The parliamentary manual Riddick's Rules of Procedure notes that, under proxy voting, voting for officers should be done by ballot, due to the difficulties involved in authentication if a member simply calls out, "I cast 17 votes for Mr. X."

An International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences paper noted that proxy voting might be particularly useful in situations in which votes are cast as the discussion is ongoing (rather than at the end of a period of discussion).^{[Full citation needed]} Proxy voting is also an important feature in corporate governance through the proxy statement.