MADISON — As was widely anticipated, CUNA Mutual Insurance Society policyholders voted by an overwhelmingly large margin to both merge with CUNA Mutual Life Insurance Company and to change the company's state of incorporation from Wisconsin to Iowa.

CUNA Mutual reported that 40,000 policyholders participated in the balloting with 93% approving the merger and the incorporation change. The actual balloting was $37,504 yes votes to $2,782 no votes on the merger, the insurer reported, and 39,489 yes votes to 2, 789 no votes on the change in incorporation.

“Throughout this process, we have been very open with CMIS policyholders on how a merger and domicile change would benefit their company,” said Jeff Post, CUNA Mutual President & CEO. “This vote–a more than 93% approval–reflects policyholder understanding of the issue and sends a clear message that our owners agree these changes will make for a stronger, more flexible company.”

The state of Wisconsin has already approved CMIS' request to change its domicile to Iowa and the state of Iowa has confirmed it has no objection. The domicile change is expected to occur next month.