WILMINGTON, Del. – Shareholders of MBNA Corp. on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the company’s $35 billion acquisition by Bank of America Corp.

Just 20 or so MBNA shareholders were on hand at company headquarters to vote on the sale.

In Maine, credit card issuer MBNA employs 1,900 in Belfast, where customer service work is done, and another 1,100 in Fort Kent, Presque Isle, Farmington, Orono, Brunswick and Portland.

Bank of America plans to cut 6,000 jobs over both its operations and MBNA’s, mostly in areas that are duplicated, such as human resources, technology, marketing and legal departments.

The votes of shareholders who voted online were tabulated along with those attending Thursday’s meeting in Wilmington. The in-person vote took about 10 minutes, an MBNA spokeswoman said Thursday.

Bank of America shareholders are not required to vote on the deal, a spokeswoman for that company said last week.

The next step is seeking approval from the Federal Reserve Board, and garnering some international approvals, since MBNA operates in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Spain.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America is expected to close on the purchase, which was announced in June, late this year or early 2006.

The deal also puts an end to a joint marketing agreement between MBNA and Bank of America’s North Carolina-based rival, Wachovia Corp., in which MBNA issued credit cards on behalf of Wachovia.

Wachovia said separately Thursday that MBNA would pay it a $100 million termination fee, and that Wachovia would use the money to become a direct issuer of credit cards in January.

Under terms of the agreement announced June 30, MBNA shareholders will receive 0.5009 common shares of Bank of America plus $4.125 in cash for each of their shares.

After the deal is closed, Bank of America will have about 40 million active credit card accounts.

Shares of MBNA fell 2 cents to $25.76 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Bank of America shares fell 33 cents to $43.75.