Question about voting rights with ETFs

[reddit]

Hello,

i often hear that if i own parts of an ETF, I should have voting rights, because in the background I own the stocks themselves. Although nearly nobody uses their rights, because one only owns a fraction of many many stocks and they are so many that people don't want to deal with their voting rights. So the ETF provider, like Blackrock for example, uses the voting rights of the people owning parts of the ETF.

I have a few questions about this.

1. it's only what I heard a few times. is it correct how i stated it or is something maybe missing in this picture?
2. how would i even be able to use my voting rights? If I own a stock I am informed by the company/the broker that I can vote etc. If I own companies over an ETF I am never informed. How would I even be able to use it, so at least Blackrock or whoever can't use it?
3. who even says the ETF provider can use my voting rights? was it in the terms and conditions maybe? because it's a bit weird to me, if I own the stocks in the ETF how can any provider just take my voting rights and use them without informing me? Who says it is this way?
4. If it really is true, does no government ever think about prohibiting this? ETF provider have my parts of stocks, but they don't own it. I ask myself a bit how it is possible that it is allowed that with such a strange rule a company gains that much might. In my eyes voting rights of people who own the ETF parts should maybe just not be used or at least there should be a site or anything over which it is possible to use voting rights one has. But of course the provider doesn't want that. I mean.. isn't it strange? If they don't even own the stocks, but people do who bought the ETF.. how can the provider use the voting rights of the people? It feels really false. And nobody cares to do something about it in any way?

Or did I get something very wrong here?

submitted by /u/michixlol
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