When a board member constantly abstains from voting

Started by DorothyG • 6 replies • 1834 views

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DorothyG (California)
Posts: 5

Posted:

If a board member constantly abstains from voting on motion, if this a forfeit of his vote or is it actually a yes vote. There has been a dispute as an abstension merely constitutes a yes vote to a motion. Could someone clarify this type of vote.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Dorothy, you may vote for, opposed, or abstain. To abstain means you are not voting at all; it is neither a 'yes' or a 'no' vote.

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

Roger is absolutely correct. However, one should consider that there are times when the "effect" of abstaining is a No vote.

Example: There are 7 board members. It requires 4 positive votes to pass a resolution. There are 3 yea votes, and 3 no votes and 1 abstention. The motion fails because there were only 3 yea votes. Had the abstaining member voted yes, the motion would have passed.

However, by abstaining, there was not enough yes votes to have a majority so the abstaining vote had the effect of a nea vote and caused the motion to fail.

If in this 7 member board there were 4 yes votes, 2 nea votes and 1 abstaining, then the abstaining vote had no effect on the outcome of the vote. The motion passed by the majority of 4 yes votes.

In my opinion, one should only abstain when they are absolutely certain that they will be happy if the motion passes or if it fails. That is, they are completely neutral on the issue.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Posted By WilliamT on 02/09/2007 12:17 PM
In my opinion, one should only abstain when they are absolutely certain that they will be happy if the motion passes or if it fails. That is, they are completely neutral on the issue.

William, a couple other examples of when to abstain are 1) when the voter would have a conflict of interest; and 2) when the voter can not make a decision on which way to vote (similar to being neutral).

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

Excellent examples Roger,

Thanks

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Dorothy:

If this person is constantly abstaining on every vote the homeowners need to ask the question "why did we vote this person in?" I think it is perfectly reasonable to abstain every now and again for reasons that Roger and William stated. But unless they are not able to think for themselves we all have opinions and should state them as board members.

LanceT (Alabama)
Posts: 121

Posted:

It should also be a consideration of the board member that his/her vote represents the general homeowners. The board member was voted in by the general membership to represent their majority viewpoint on how the HOA should be run.
Your board member may have forgotten this part is acting on his/her own personal interest. Abstaining may be good in some votes but like you said, it shouldn't be for ALL decisions. It almost "robs" a voice of the general membership away when an elected official doesn't represent them by granting their vote.
You may want to remind the board that their votes are for the ENTIRE membership and they should be voting WITH what the majority of members want done.
Otherwise, you can vote the member out and get another one willing to express an opinion.

Recovering Ex-President of a HOA

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