proxy received after the meeting.

Can we accept a proxy received after the meeting.

At our annual meeting we passed many amendments to our documents. However one amendment needed 100% approval to pass. It was the amendment to lower the amount from 100% to 75% to amend a few specific sections of our documents. Everyone present in person or by proxy voted for this amendment.

There were about 8 owners who were not at the meeting and had not turned in a proxy.
We decided to contact these owners after the meeting to have them either complete their proxy or vote yes or no.

I am thinking since we adjourned the meeting, we can not accept proxies after the fact. But if we had voted to continue the meeting then we could accept proxies given to us after the meeting.

I checked Roberts Rules of order and State Nebraska Nonprofit Corporation Act. I did not find anything that said we could or could not accept proxies after the meeting.

Robert's Rules provides that a "motion to fix the time to which to adjourn" can be used when a meeting isn't going to have enough time to complete the business before it. If someone had made that motion and it passed with a vote then you could seamlessly pick up where you left off on the open business that was pending at the first meeting. Otherwise you're out of luck as a simple motion to adjourn, without fixing the time to which to adjourn to, completes the business for the meeting. Various discussions you can find on the web talk about how such a motion is often used when, for instance, there aren't enough proxies for something.

It's not realistic to expect everyone on a board to be a well-versed parliamentarian, but having someone who knows something about Robert's Rules - something more than carrying around a little reference book - and what's possible and what's not under them can be a very good thing to have when faced with unusual circumstances from time to time.

Bonnie, your question is quite misleading. You are not asking if you can collect proxies after a meeting, you are asking if you can alter the outcome of a duly held and counted vote on an amendment that failed. (and simple math would of told you that was going to happen if and when you saw that all HO's weren't there, with or without proxies.

Where is your sense of fairness? Why do you think it would be acceptable to go out after the vote failed to seek out people in order to change a vote that was already taken and counted.

A maneuver such as this is underhanded and one of the exact reasons HOA's are hated and despised. And to be blunt, it's quite shocking that the question was even asked.

Bonnie,

Maybe it's the way the questions are being asked.

For example:

Should this vote be taken with secret ballots?
Answer: no

Can this vote be taken with secret ballots?
Answer: Yes

Addressing the Ballots for the meeting, what is allowed and what do you recommend?
Answer: You may have open or secret ballots as the Board desires. I would advise open ballots for an amendment so there is validation between the sign in sheet and who actually voted.

Yes, it's called a motion to "fix the time to which to adjourn". If done properly, the same meeting can be continued at a fixed day and time in the future. The Robert's Rules references I have explicitly suggest that one of its main uses is to extend the time available to gather ballots and proxies for elections and other voting matters.

Cyrstal

I would question the ability to have a vote, not like the results, and adjourn the meeting to gather more votes. I believe one the polls are closed (as in no more voting) and the votes are tabulated, it is what it is. I could see having a straw poll and knowing something may not pass so adjourn and use the time to gather more votes.

I have seen meetings adjourned to a later time as there was not a quorum and the required quorum needed is reduced for the continued meeting.

Bonnie - Did you mean that to pass this bylaw amendment, 100% of the residents approval was needed - OR 100% of those voting AT THE MEETING (in person or by proxy) was needed?

That 100% thresh hold is EXTREMELY high!!

Bonnie, I have neglected to say, "YOU GO GIRL"! Good for you to want to research to further your understanding of the nonsense of HOA's.