A private equity investor in AeroVironment Inc. is seeking a change in how the company company’s board is elected.

Glenn W. Welling, founder of Engaged Capital LLC in Newport Beach, sent a letter on Monday to the board asking that a binding declassification proposal be made at the company’s annual meeting this year.

Board declassification would put all seven directors up for a vote at the same time on an annual basis. Classified boards, such as the one AeroVironment currently has, have staggered terms for directors.

The investment firm wants to declassify the board as a way to improve corporate governance.

In the letter, Welling noted that at last year’s annual meeting a non-binding declassification proposal had passed with 70 percent approval. Given that support, he wrote, it is vital that shareholders hold a binding vote on the matter again at the next annual meeting. The date for the meeting will be announced in August.

“Shareholders have unequivocally shown they believe it is in their best interest that the board should be declassified,” Welling wrote in the letter.

AeroVironment did not respond to request for comment. However, in its 2014 proxy materials, the company stated it would re-evaluate its position on declassification if shareholders approved such a proposal.

AeroVironment is based in Monrovia but its best-known division, unmanned aircraft, is in Simi Valley. The company also makes charging stations for electric vehicles.

Shares closed down $1.50, or 5.1 percent, to $27.56 on the Nasdaq.