Annual election

My FL community is having our annual election next month and three out of five directors are up for election. The deadline for filing as a candidate was a week before Christmas. No one filed, so the election will be by write-in only. A small faction, led by one of the current directors, is orchestrating a write-in campaign for three candidates who they support and plan on coming to the annual meeting with enough write in votes to get them elected. The problem is that they won't even reveal who their candidates are and there are a lot of residents who have no idea who's even running for office, so they can't really vote effectively if at all.

Is this in violation of any HOA laws or is it just morally corrupt, for lack of a better term?

How can a "small faction" get enough write in votes to make a difference?

Are you saying they will be carrying proxies?

Look at your numbers and figure out if they can really do what you claim they plan.

So lets see if the three current Board members are running against no other declared candidates then if this group can produce more votes for their candidates as a group they might pull this off.

If no other candidates are actively working to secure wirte-in votes for themselves or others it would seem their votes would need to go for one of the current Board members or WHO? Pick a name?

If the owners wish to have their own candidates they would need to find them and start their own campaign. Simply questioning their actions will not prevent it from happening.

And group of three candidates each supporting the other would seem to have a numerical advantage to opposition with no declared list of candidates.

One of our mysteries has been solved. The wife of a current board member is running for office.

With the election three weeks away most of the community still has no idea who's running. Only a few homes who they perceive to be positive toward them have been approached and anyone perceived to be a potential vote against them is being deliberately kept in the dark.

You folks have a serious problem, Felix. The majority of your Board is going to be gone next month, and no one seemed to care enough to step up to the plate to take their places by the deadline.

Now your association is faced with the prospect of no longer having the ability to conduct business, because with only two Board members, you don't have enough for a quorum. Without a quorum the Board can't vote on any motions. Your HOA is on the verge of collapse, and there are no candidates for the upcoming election.

Let me state again: There are no candidates for the three, soon-to-be-vacant Board positions. Everyone in your association gave up the right to have their names placed on the ballot, and if there are no other ballot items, I believe ballots are now out. A rumored write-in campaign does not an election make, and people who others will write in are not candidates. They are merely rumors.

I've read your state's statues on elections, and I'm not an attorney, so take what I'm saying with a pound of salt.

Your association apparently has a December 4th deadline for nominations, but your statutes don't have any such deadline that I can find. To the contrary, your statute 720.306 states:

(9) ELECTIONS.--Elections of directors must be conducted in accordance with the procedures set forth in the governing documents of the association. All members of the association shall be eligible to serve on the board of directors, and a member may nominate himself or herself as a candidate for the board at a meeting where the election is to be held. Except as otherwise provided in the governing documents, boards of directors must be elected by a plurality of the votes cast by eligible voters. Any election dispute between a member and an association must be submitted to mandatory binding arbitration with the division. Such proceedings shall be conducted in the manner provided by s. 718.1255 and the procedural rules adopted by the division.

I don't know what you're governing documents say about this situation, but ordinarily, state law prevails where association documents fail, or are silent. If I'm right, any member may attend the annual meeting and nominate himself or herself for any of the seats, but you will still need a quorum of the homeowners to attend the meeting, as defined by your associations governing documents. If you don't get a quorum, the meeting can't start (at least that's how it is in California). if you do have a quorum of the membership attending the annual meeting, then the meeting starts, people can nominate themselves, and a vote can be taken, right then and there. No write-ins are necessary.

Does anyone see any flaw in my thinking?

This is a tough one.

Rob

Rob- no one filed to run for the board so we'll be accepting write-ins and floor nominations, but no one wanting to be on the board is willing to reveal themselves. One board member suggested that we have a candidates night but she was told in no uncertain terms that this was unacceptable. The people wanting to be on the board plan on showing up with proxy ballots on the night of the election - or so I'm told - ensuring their victory.

I'm so disgusted with the shenanigans around here that I'm thinking of moving.

I must second Janet, Felix: Look at it as an opportunity. Get 20 of your friends and neighbors to come to the meeting and vote for you, and you might win! Then at least you will know you can trust at least one of the Board members. (-:

Rob

Janet: I hope you're right. I'll let you know what happens in about three weeks.

Felix ... does the owner of the home you rent plan on attending the meeting or will he allow you to be his proxy for casting his vote?