A customer puts a bag of purchases into a shopping cart at a Walmart Store in Los Angeles.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Wal-Mart Stores failed to block a vote on a shareholder resolution calling for an independent board chairman, allowing it to return to the ballot for the third straight year at its annual shareholder meeting in June.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected a request by Wal-Mart to prevent the proposal from being voted on by shareholders, according to an SEC letter delivered to the fund sponsoring the proposal on Friday.