Ballot secrecy for annual elections

Neither our state law nor our CC&Rs nor our by-laws require secret ballots.

New this year is we can do absentee ballots that count toward quroum, and if we can validate the authenticity ballots, we can do electronic ballots.

So, I'm looking at doing paper ballots and electronic ballots that contain homeowner identification. Our annual meeting is virtual. I'm not exactly sure how we will take votes via Zoom yet, but thinking we can do some type of poll option and then the poll votes will be added to the absentee votes.

Wondered if other homeowners associations have had non-secret elections, and what homeowner response was to non-secret elections? We don't plan on publishing the results or making who voted for whom to be public, but the information will be recorded.....

The OP has clarified in the past that he is in Washington.

From the Washington HOA statute:

Owners or their proxies who are present in person may vote by voice vote, show of hands, standing, written ballot, or any other method for determining the votes of owners, as designated by the person presiding at the meeting.

The person presiding is the president. Hence the OP can make this call on his own. Though to minimize pushback, he might want to consider asking for input from others first.

I think many folks will be intimidated into not voting if they know that their vote will be shared freely with others. I think secret ballot should be used.

Ballots can be confidential without being secret.

We designate someone with no connection to any candidate to be the election inspector, and at least 2 people to count votes. All three sign a form pledging not to disclose individual votes (practically speaking they probably won’t remember anyway.) Once counted ballots are sealed and not opened unless a recount is ordered.

I'm probably bleary-eyed from a long CC&R restatement Town Hall with Owners.

Still, The citation from WA seems to say that owners must be "present" in person or by proxy. So it doesn't seem that ballots can be mailed in or sent electronically?

There is a new Washington law that allows for absentee ballots, and says that any absentee ballots count for quroum. Thus, we no longer need to ask for proxies, rather, we just ask people to vote and if enough people vote in advance then we meet quorum.

I'm really excited about this and want to make it as easy for folks to vote as possible in advance of the meeting while still doing due diligence to ensure valid votes.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=64.34.340

Henry, I also am in Washington State. Do you believe current state law (64.38 & 24.03A) allow electronic voting? My research seems to say "no". Can you advise where in the state law this is allowed. I am a new Elections Committee Chair and take my "job" seriously. I am in a HOA (not condominium established before 2018). Thanks

This is the poster I referred to in my reply to your post, Pastsy, about electronic voting. He became president initiated it in his HOA because he believed statute permitted it. See his postings under Michael forum Ark. He has since left the forum so that's why you'll see his post count at zero.