Are there rules for elections?

William,
Is your HOA still under Builder/Developer control?

Florida Statute 720 says this regarding member meeting notices:
(5) NOTICE OF MEETINGS.—The bylaws shall provide for giving notice to members of all member meetings, and if they do not do so shall be deemed to provide the following: The association shall give all parcel owners and members actual notice of all membership meetings, which shall be mailed, delivered, or electronically transmitted to the members not less than 14 days prior to the meeting. Evidence of compliance with this 14-day notice shall be made by an affidavit executed by the person providing the notice and filed upon execution among the official records of the association. In addition to mailing, delivering, or electronically transmitting the notice of any meeting, the association may, by reasonable rule, adopt a procedure for conspicuously posting and repeatedly broadcasting the notice and the agenda on a closed-circuit cable television system serving the association. When broadcast notice is provided, the notice and agenda must be broadcast in a manner and for a sufficient continuous length of time so as to allow an average reader to observe the notice and read and comprehend the entire content of the notice and the agenda.


Do your bylaws have anything to say?

I spoke with the property manager and HOA BOD in January about this. They both said that they send out election packages every year. As I stated, no one I have spoken to (about 15 people) said they've never received anything concerning elections.

When you spoke to the property manager, did you ask them to check if they had your correct address in their records? Have you checked with the post office and perhaps filed a complaint? If this is the first time you haven’t received anything, there’s a chance the packet may have gotten lost, especially if your address might be similar to someone else’s (e.g. street numbers are the same, but the street names are different – this has happened to me a few times in my community)

As for bylaws, keep reading – you said the directors are elected during the annual meeting, but there should be something stating when the meeting occurs and how far in advance homeowners should be notified (usually 30 days). If you still don’t see anything (and yes, you should read the whole thing to ensure the information isn’t buried somewhere), what’s stopping you from going to the next board meeting and asking them directly when the meeting’s scheduled? Better yet, have those 15 people you talked attend the meeting with you – if the board members know you aren’t the only one with this problem, they might take it more seriously.

If you have a website, you might want to suggest that the packet be placed on the website so it can be downloaded. Then, you could do things like print off the proxy (if you’re using one), complete it by hand and return it to the board or property manager.

Elections may be covered in the Articles of Incorporation. Atleast the position definitions and what they do should be there. So maybe look outside just your by-laws.

Documents should mention the election dates etc... Which may be ASSUMED you are to know this information if you have read your documents. Hence why the HOA may not send out the information to save costs. If it's documented does it mean it needs to be sent or understood?

Our says to have elections in January. We then elect our board and then the board members elect the officers from the board pool. So officers positions aren't elected by the members directly. However, we typically indicate what officer position we desire to get once elected.