is this soliciting?

Florida Statue 720.3033 states an office or director may not solicit ----------.

The president has sent out a letter with the annual meeting packet using hoa funds saying he would like to have the following homeowners running for the board be elected.

Is this soliciting??

Don't know why you didn't include the rest of that statute - context is important. If it discusses soliciting vendors for the association in exchange for favors, kickbacks or such, that is clearly wrong.

That said,what this president did was highly unethical. It's one thing to encourage people to vote or run for a seat without favoring anyone, but another to use association money to say vote for X. The rest of the board should reprimand him post haste and everyone else should consider not re-electing him to the the board. You don't need a legal interpretation to figure that out.

Yes This is the section

Solicit? No. Improper use of an HOA mailing? Yes. Go to the corner for 10 minutes.

I think "soliciting" is the wrong word and the part of the statute you're referencing doesn't apply at all. The statute doesn't really say anything about Director(s) and/or Officers campaigning for and endorsing a slate of candidates for election to the Board of Directors.

Using association funds for electioneering in favor of their pet slate of candidates is wrong. Nothing wrong with it if they want to send out campaign flyers on their own dime. I don't think the statute really addresses the situation adequately.

We never saw the letter and don’t know if he spoke for the board to encourage members to vote for the slate

Or

He personally endorsed candidates.

Makes a difference.

Please re-read OP's 1st post. It appears the president used HOA resources to encourage certain owners to seek election. He sent it with with the election packet. He used HOA funds & staff.

FL posters???

Based on the OP's post, the president, not the Board, asked homeowners to elected only those he selected be elected using association funds, not available to others having an opposing view. The value of the material, paper, envelopes and postage has a value that he accepted.

That is soliciting!

"Electioneering. Persons may conduct normal campaign activities such as mailers, campaign speeches, door to door solicitations, and the like. Using California's Election Code as a guideline, it prohibits soliciting votes or electioneering at any time a voter may be casting a ballot."

'No candidate or representative of a candidate, and no proponent, opponent, or representative of a proponent or opponent, of an initiative, referendum, or recall measure, or of a charter amendment, shall solicit the vote of an absentee voter, or do any electioneering, while in the residence or in the immediate presence of the voter, and during the time he or she knows the absentee voter is voting.' (Elections Code §18371(a).)

"As provided for in the Code, any solicitation or attempt to influence a voter under these sections is guilty of a misdemeanor. The same rules against solicitation and electioneering should apply to associations so that members can vote without intimidation or undue influence." Davis-stirling com.

So that's CA and how solicitation is used in our state re: campaigning.

It sounds like it's vague in FL But the very idea that a prez would use HOA resources to urge Owners to vote for certain candidates is appalling to me and against the law in CA re absentee voters. I'm shocked that, per TimB4 it seems commonplace! But maybe the prez is just saying get out & vote and there really are only 3 candidates for 3 spots?

(you're right, Sue, I misread the OP's 1st post.)

I also wonder if they're using cumulative voting as we are this year.

Unless we see the wording of the letter we don’t know if this is inviting or coercing members to vote. And for whom- the slate? Certain nominees?

Yep, lets divide the community and throw mud.

What if there were no other candidates?

Emphasis added:

All well and good but there is no punishment so why go on and on about it?

And replace him/her with who?

If you're running a campaign like Geno suggests, I wouldn't vote for you because, as a homeowner, I would expect the same type of treatment (mud slinging, baseless accusations, etc.) if I disagreed with you.

We've never heard from the OP if others are running or not.