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Enough with the letters. It's time to vote. On Monday, Yahoo mailed out ballots for its upcoming board election, for which corporate raider Carl Icahn has proposed an alternative slate — one that will do his bidding and attempt to resuscitate merger talks with Microsoft. Yahoo also said it plans to spend $12 million campaigning for its board. Anyone who has owned Yahoo shares since before June 3 is eligible to vote online, via toll-free number or by snail mail. Yahoo will announce the results on August 1 at its annual shareholder meeting. By why wait till then? Review the pros and cons for each side and then vote your Valleywag proxy below.

Those voting for Icahn's slate should be aware that:

  • Icahn is after a quick buck. He has no real Internet vision.
  • Icahn wants to sack Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang.
  • Icahn doesn't have public assurance that Microsoft even wants a merger still.
  • Icahn has his own 30 percent of the company. So maybe they don't need your help, anyway.
  • Icahn probably does have private assurances that if it can get the dirty work done, Microsoft will buy Yahoo, but shareholders probably won't see the original 62 percent premium.

Those voting for Yahoo's current slate need to remember that:

  • Their poor management and oversight got Yahoo into this problem in the first place.
  • These mokes keep high-fiving Jerry Yang in CEO role, for now.
  • They support management's plan to be a "must buy" for advertisers. Unless advertisers want to buy from Google.

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(Photos by AP/ Mark Lennihan and Paul Sakuma)