ballots not sent out

Started by TristaJ • 7 replies • 263 views

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TristaJ (Texas)
Posts: 96

Posted:

Good afternoon,

I'm in Texas and our annual election is coming up in November. Our property manager didn't send the ballots in the packet that was sent out about the candidates and the annual meeting. He only sent proxies.

I asked him about the ballots and he told me the ballots will be produced at the meeting. We have never had enough people to make quorum at a meeting. We have to call and beg to get people to vote. Is this some kind of new Texas law that I'm not aware of that says only voting at meeting?

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

Your beef is really with the board because the property manager works at its direction - and you should read your documents to see what they say about elections and proxies.

You said yourself not enough people show up to make quorum and have to beg them to vote, so has it occurred to you that perhaps the board has determined sending proxies may be the best way to get more participation? Or people really can't attend due to personal or professional obligations, perhaps both, so the proxies are one way to get a quorum established so you can even have an election?

That said, it would be easier to combine the two - the owners can choose to designate someone to show up and vote on their behalf, cast their own ballot (usually that proxy would also be used to establish quorum), or use the proxy only to establish a quorum. If they decide to show up at the meeting, the proxy should be canceled and they can go ahead and vote in person with the ballot. There's also a chance no one has yet declared his/her intention to run for a seat - have you asked the board about that? Can people be nominated from the floor (you should already know this) - maybe there are people who may wait to announce their intentions at that time.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

I think Shelia hit the nail on the head. Depending on the Proxy wording, it could count toward establishing a Quorum. This is a common practice. If Quorum is established, ballots could be made/given out and voting can be done. Without Proxies, we could not establish a Quorumn.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Are you saying, Trista, that in the past owners could vote by mail? So, they'd receive actual ballots in the mail?

AugustinD
Posts: 1,027

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TristaJ on 10/18/2022 11:50 AM
I'm in Texas and our annual election is coming up in November. Our property manager didn't send the ballots in the packet that was sent out about the candidates and the annual meeting. He only sent proxies.

To determine if this is a problem, one would have to see the HOA/COA's bylaws and know which state statute applies.

From prior posts, the OP has indicated this is a townhome community. The OP was unable to identify, by reading her HOA/COA's governing documents, whether her HOA/COA was subject to TPC 81, TPC 82 or TPC 209.

Except for online voting (which remains pretty new), absentee ballots have never been common for HOAs/COAs.

I believe the OP is going to have to do some reading outside of this forum (and per the suggestions of people here at the forum) to get an education on how her HOA/COA works. Once the OP has done the reading people here have suggested, I expect the OP's questions could be more readily answered.

MichaelT21 (Arkansas)
Posts: 462

Posted:

Electronic voting is the way to go. I would encourage every HOA to do it when legally possible.

DavidG45 (Delaware)
Posts: 994

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MichaelT21 on 10/19/2022 5:06 PM
Electronic voting is the way to go. I would encourage every HOA to do it when legally possible.

I am good with that if you’re trying to get 2/3 of your homeowners to agree to a needed change in your governing documents. But when electing the board I would prefer that be decided by those homeowners who give enough of a crap to fill-out a ballot and bring it to a meeting.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

In HOAs like mine with 25% landlords and and another 12% part-timers, mail in ballots are hugely important. Why prevent an owner from voting because they live in another state full or part-time? Our HOA's bylaws no longer allows proxies, which, in fact, have been used by no voter is maybe in 16 years.

If electronic joint were legal in CA, I'm sure our Board would go that way and quickly as possible.

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