Elections

I have been VP of our HOA for the past year. We have elections coming up this Sunday(June3)and I'm running for President. Our Bylaws say you must be a homeowner and current with your dues in order to run for an office or vote.Any suggestions on how to make sure that only the above is casting a ballet?Pattyb1

That is a great suggestion, thank you.If I'm elected,that's something we'll consider for the next time. Patty

Patty, you can create a list of members in good standing and check that candidates and voters are on the list. Or with accounting software peachtree, which we use, it is easier to create an accounts receivable aging list. We use it and list only property ID.

Patty:

At the annual elections have a sign in sheet so you can make sure you meet the quorum. Also collect all proxy ballots, use the sign in sheet and match it up to the deliquency list, proxies and the Owners present.

Once the voting takes place you match it up and remove the delinquent voters if they cast their vote or proxy.

If you live in the state of Virginia I believe a written notice, 14 days prior to removing any rights, must be given to any property owner considered not in good standing. This enables that property owner the opportunity to obtain counsel and be heard before a board. Oral notice is not considered sufficient. If an owner is not in good standing(unpaid dues)and they wish to run for office and they have not been notified in writing, with a 14 day notice, they should be on the ballet. The same goes for voting.
MB

I will explain how our Board elections are handled but they do occur during our annual general meeting which are mandated by our Bylaws. Each member has one vote and a member is clearly defined in our Bylaws; broken down from multiple owners of a lot being given one vote between those mutliple members; married couples receive one vote between them.
The voting member also has to be in 'good standing' as accorded by our Bylaws. This means they must not owe any money to the HOA i.e paid up on their dues and/or any fines or fees incurred in the past 30 days.

As Secretary of the Board I create and maintain a Certificate of Record listing all our members, their lot numbers (parcel numbers from County Assessor's site), current address and phone number. This is maintained on our office computer. From this list I create a 'sign in' list for our Annual General Meeting in alphabetical order so members who own multiple lots have those lots clumped together, etc.

Our Bylaws allow proxy voting. The proxy document is embossed with our official HOA stamp and goes out 30 days before our AGM in the mailing packet along with the AGM agenda, nominations committee information, proposed budget, financial statements, proposed Bylaw amendments.

These proxys must be turned into the Secretary at sign-in and before the start of the AGM for them to be considered valid for the AGM voting.

At sign in for the AGM each voting member is given a voting packet which includes a written ballot with room for floor nominations. During the point in the meeting set by the agenda the members will vote for the Nomination Committee's recommendations (those members who have shown an interest in running or been solicited to run for a Board position) or for any floor nominations. The ballots are passed to two ballot counters and the tally occurs and the vote turned into the Secretary and announced at the meeting.

All of the ballots are preserved until the next AGM in case there any questions or conflicts with the election results.
We maintain the records for one year because the membership votes on the minutes of the previous year's AGM minutes at each AGM, thereby, finalizing those actions.