HOA election - who is right?

I need some help understanding this election process I have here in my community. Under our bylaws we have a proxy voting platform and with it the board chooses from the willing candidates and existing board 7 replacing or returning members and places those individual's names on a ballot and mails that along with a proxy 14 days before the annual meeting where the election takes place. Within the packet is explanations on how to mail in your proxy and ballot. This is two separate pieces of paper. By the bylaws the proxys have to be returned 24 hours before the election. Also in the packet are a background sheet of the 7 chosen candidates, a budget and prior years minutes. If you mail in your ballot, the rules specifically states on the directions for mailing in your ballot that if you write anyone in the vote will not be counted. That you must nominate a person on the floor of the meeting.

So the remaining candidates have to be nominated on the floor at the election meeting and then written in on the open spaces of the ballot. So by this picture anyone mailing in a ballot only has 7 votes and 7 choices. Only if you show up at the meeting does one get to show up and vote for any other candidate the board did not chose and pre-print on the ballot.

Now the nominating committee is the president, treasure, and non officer from the community. However, during interviews with 4 members wanting to run only the two officers were present for the interview.

Under the state statute it states that when using an absentee ballet that candidates should be chosen and placed on the ballots before the election meeting. However the POA lawyer, who was present at our meeting, stated when presented this statute that it didn't apply to us since we use a proxy and that it wasn't an absentee vote if they were mailed.

I don't get this, I am struggling with it. Can someone see what I am not? To me this is such a rigged election, and a blatant neglect for the law, it makes me sick.

Thanks in advance!

If you don't have a quorum there is no membership meeting.
Also, anyone from the floor can nominate.

But, again, I'm not addressing your specific problem.

Just know you are not alone.

There are 2 HOA reform bills moving along in the FL Senate now.

Steve

Not to defend, but:

Without proxy voting and the proxy also counting as a quorum, few HOA's would ever gather enough owners to have an election.

A proxy can be pulled at the last minute if the proxy giver/signer shows up to vote.

I agree proxies can be misleading but usually this is becasue someone knew "better" how to word/phrase it then the person signing it. This is one reason they are disliked by many. That in itself is another entire conversation.

Few last minute nominations from the floor ever get elected so they are almost a waste of time and quite often done by some "drunk" owner that decides at the last minute to have a go at it. Also it can be near impossible to check if the person is eligible and/or it takes time to do so. We had one person nominate themselves from the floor and they were not even an owner. They were a potential owner attending the meeting as a guest of the owner. Also if there was a nominating/vetting process and one does not do it, one has to ask how committed are they to the entire process?

I like proxies......LOL

Bruce

You said:

A proxy is like a power of attorney. Basically, you designate someone to attend the meeting as your representative. That person can nominate someone from the floor and can vote just as if you were there in person. If you don't provide any instructions, the person with the proxy can nominate anyone he or she chooses and can vote any way he or she chooses. If you provide instructions to the proxy that person must nominate and vote in accordance with your wishes.

I would believe that only an owner could nominate someone/or themselves and it is quite possible that a proxy holder is not an owner thus cannot nominate anyone.

I do agree on the if no instructions are given then it is a General Proxy and the proxy holder can vote anyway their little heartr desires verus a Directed Proxy that tells them how they will vote. Also a properly worded proxy can be both.

As I said, my belief.

Well I appreciate all the comments, and I do understand proxys and their purpose. The issue I am having is, if you as a homeowner, or a person in possession of a proxy and a ballot are able to mail in your vote. How is that not considered and absentee ballot??? And further more, how can you block a willing candidate from running on the official ballot where voters are able to mail in a vote. The statute for elections states if you have an absentee ballot you have to have the ballot meeting before the election meeting. Therefor all candidates should be on the ballot at time of election. And you can still have nominations for a last minute whatever. But at least all that want to run are on the ballot before proxys and ballot can be mailed out. Does this not make sense?

The other side of this is, how it is legal to knowingly send out a ballot to the property owners after acknowledging all candidates intent to run to only placing the 7 they, the board, choose to run and leaving off the rest. I am finding this just as difficult to accept. In this case there were 10 property owners that wanted to run for the board 5 of them were current officers. The board held interviews with candidates that were not on the board already. So by doing so that shows a knowledge of their intent. So how is it legal to leave them off the official ballot?

OK Steve

I have emailed this below for answers and they might help:

[email protected];

Susan Healy

Program Administrator

Law Book Services Office

850-717-0422

Fax: 850-488-4188

Bruce:

I did look it up In SC Articles of Incorporation:

(f)Subject to Section 33-31-727 and any express limitation on the proxy's authority appearing on the face of the appointment form, a corporation is entitled to accept the proxy's vote or other action as that of the member making the appointment.

You are correct. Unless the proxy has stated limits (such as no nominations), the proxy holder has the same power of the member making the appointment which would include nominations.

Thanks for making me go looking......LOL