Proper Wording?

When one board position is open and the director is running for a second term with no other candidates on the ballot, what is the proper motion to accept the candidate without having to hold the election? Or must we go thru the motion of counting all the ballots?

Thanks

When there number of candidates does not exceed the number of vacant positions, an election is not necessary and the candidates are elected by acclamation.

It all depends on your bylaws.

In our association we take nominations by email or snail mail at the beginning of the year. The ballots are mailed out sometime in March and returned for counting in early May. Our annual meeting is held in late May and members may vote at the meeting (on a written ballot) but so few cast ballots at the meeting that it never effects the outcome. Since we have open nominations at the beginning of the year, we do not accept them from the floor at the annual meeting.

We had several years in a row where the number of vacant seats exceeded the number of candidates so all nominees were elected by acclamation.

Our asssociation is atypical of most HOA's. The developer sold 36-acre and larger parcels of undeveloped ranch land. Only about 10 percent of the units are occupied full time, and 3/4's of the parcels have nothing built on them yet. Our voting power is proportional to the amount of land we each own. Our rules require that all owners of each parcel be in agreement and cast just one ballot, which must be signed. This makes a voice vote impossible. It also requires that the election committee verify that each ballot comes from an owner in good standing, that all owners have signed it, and that the owners are casting no more votes than they are entitled to.

Much of this would not work in California but under Arizona law it is just fine. State law here prohibits proxy voting in HOA's but requires permitting owners to vote by mail or in-person. I never gave it much thought before, but the mail-in requirement would pretty well kill off voice voting.