The number of shareholder proposals requesting the ability to call a special meeting appears to have almost doubled this proxy season, according to new data from shareholder services provider Georgeson.

The spike in proposals related to special meetings reflects continued efforts by shareholders to make it easier to have more of a say on certain topics without having to wait for the annual meeting, sources told Agenda. Boards should be aware of how their investor base feels about its level of access — and consider how they might use that access if a proposal passes.

…So far, special meeting proposals have passed at Agilent Technologies, Becton Dickinson, Centene Corporation, Cerner Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Crown Holdings, Gilead Sciences and Global Payments, according to SEC data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ.(The MyLogIQ data tracked meetings that took place after the Georgeson white paper’s cutoff.)