Signing Anonymous Proxy Votes

Our HOA recently held an election and in the period preceding it there were a number of people out soliciting proxies. In some cases, individuals were asked to sign a BLANK proxy. That is, the portion of the form which indicate who would vote on their behalf had no entry. The CCRs and bylaws don't forbid this practice, but we are after all a corporation and I'm wondering if in fact that tactic is legal in Texas. Your thoughts?

Also, are members of the HOA entitled to see how many votes were cast by who so that the distribution of proxies is known?

NOTE: I was not a candidate and have no intention of challenging anything. This is me purely being curious.

The proxy is to vote at the Annual Meeting.

Note: This is IMPORTANT and I'm sorry to say that I forgot to add it:

The form lists the names of the current Board members so that the person may designate which of them gets proxy authority. There is also language which says if nobody is designated, then the votes will revert to the Board Secretary. (So, obviously, the Board has pre-loaded the form to make it easiest to designate a Board member as the proxy holder.)

What do you folks think about revealing who have how many proxy votes to cast?

Should a person be able to ask how many proxies were cast and by who?

This is very typical.

What right of privacy is one to expect? The individual signed over their rights to a third party who can see exactly who they voted for on a sheet of paper not in an envelope marked "secret ballot.

There shouldn’t be such a thing as anonymous proxy. The homeowner should specifically state who will vote on his/her behalf, whether that’s a board officer (usually the president in my community) or someone else. Where I live, you can also dictate how the proxy is to vote or leave that part blank and the proxy can vote for whoever. If you show up at the meeting after all, the proxy is cancelled and you can cast your own vote.

Personally I wouldn’t sign a blank proxy because I wouldn’t have any idea what the person collecting them would do with them, so if your neighbors are signing this without thinking the thing through, they’re not very bright. These are usually the same people who will later howl about “rouge boards” or property managers run amok.

That might also include you. You have a valid question, especially since you say you’re new to the process, so why ask about this and then say you have no intention of challenging anything? That won’t get your question answered – we can tell you what we think (although I think this signing a blank proxy is stupid), but we don’t live in your community, so your question should really be directed at the BOARD, not the property manager (he or she runs the day to day operations at the board’s direction, remember?)

About the count – you can probably find out the total number of votes cast and a breakdown as to how many got what. You’d have to look at the proxies themselves to see who got what, but as some have said, that appears to be a privacy issue, so you might not be entitled to that information. In our community, our sign in sheets indicate if a proxy was turned in or the owner signs in if he/she attends, so you might be able to get a copy of that and then visit all those people who turned in proxies and ask them how they voted.

I think you should go to the meeting and ask your question and see how the board responds. You never know – other people might ponder this a bit and start asking their own questions. If the board’s responses aren’t up to snuff, it may be time to replace them with other people who will take steps to ensure the election is fair.

What right to privacy is that? Is that a thing in Texas law as far as association voting is concerned? I'm curious because there is no such right in Florida homeowners associations, for example, unless it's expressly in one's bylaws.

Sorry, in California, any member can review the ballots and the signing envelopes. They can tally who voted and can verify that the votes from the ballots were properly counted.

"You have a valid question, especially since you say you’re new to the process, so why ask about this and then say you have no intention of challenging anything?"

I'm just curious -- and the whole process seems...weird.

When you enter the Annual Meeting, there's a log book listing all addressees in the HOA. Members sign in for themselves and for each address they're casting votes for. There are proxy forms, but I don't know if they're ever checked against the entries in the logbook to see if they correspond. (I hope so!)

Our ballots have the names of the candidates, but not in any particular order. Each person casts one ballot. If you have proxies for 15 people, you write "15" in the upper part of the ballot. At the bottom, you print your name, address, and then sign. All the people counting ballots will see who has how many proxies and how each individual voted.

Maybe the best way to address this is to suggest we have a webpage "How Our Elections Work" and offer to create the copy for it with the help of our Board and mgmt company. That'll not only answer my questions (and perhaps leave me feeling less "weird" about the process) but also help others who might wonder.