UPDATE 2-Shareholders need real voice: U.S. SEC chief

* SEC to seek public comment on proxy voting mechanics

* SEC expected to consider 'proxy access' rules early 2010

* SEC looks at role of proxy advisory firms (Adds comments on proxy mechanics, broker-dealer voting)

By Rachelle Younglai

NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The top U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday called on Corporate America to upgrade its proxy voting practices to ensure shareholders a greater voice in governing the companies they own.

"It is imperative that our proxy voting process work," Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro told the Practising Law Institute conference in New York.

"The failure to reform the shareholder voting process in the past has, in my view, affected company and board responsiveness to shareholder concerns," Schapiro said.

Schapiro said her agency was eyeing the mechanics for shareholder voting and vowed to give shareholders an easier and cheaper way to nominate corporate directors.

Investors have long clamored for a way to influence the composition of the corporate board -- an issue known as proxy access. Those demands increased after the government used billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to prop up companies including insurer AIG (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Bank of America (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research).