Handing of Directed Proxies.

I'm curious how other associations handle their "directed proxies" ? After a multi-year battle in New Hampshire over the use of directed proxies I was able to the state condo laws clarified to make it clear that owners can use a directed proxy if they chose to do so.

There is a provision in the new law shown below stating that the Board is to ensure election integrity of the vote and I feel that the board should collect any directed proxy like a ballot at the beginning of a voting meeting.

how to others handle directed proxies? Do you treat them like a ballot and have the secretary or election team collect them, so they can't be tampered with?

IV. (a) The votes appertaining to any unit may be cast in person at a properly noticed meeting of the unit owners' association or pursuant to a directed or undirected proxy or proxies duly executed by or on behalf of the unit owner, or, in cases where the unit owner is more than one person, by or on behalf of all such persons. The option of a directed or undirected proxy shall be the choice of the unit owner. In a condominium association of more than 20 units, proxies cast by any person shall not exceed 10 percent of the votes cast, provided that condominium bylaws that specify less than 10 percent of proxies cast shall apply. In a condominium association of less than 20 units, proxies cast by any person shall not represent a majority of the votes. The board of directors or the association secretary shall implement a process to ensure the integrity of all votes cast in person or by directed or undirected proxy in order to properly register the votes cast.

Thanks
John

All of our proxies can be mailed to our property manager, who is to keep all of them secured and unopened until our annual meeting (that's when we use them), or dropped off at the manager's office. The proxies are opened at the meeting and reviewed to ensure whoever signed it is listed on the owner list and is current in all assessments. Our proxies allow homeowners to use the proxy towards establishing quorum so the annual meeting could be held, designate specific people to attend and vote on their behalf or the board president is authorized to vote on their behalf. We also use it to take nominations for an open board spot - people can nominate themselves or another homeowner. If someone turns in a proxy, but later decides to attend the meeting in person, the proxy is canceled and that person may vote as usual. Oh, and we also had a mailbox on the clubhouse door that can only be unlocked from the inside, meaning you also need the key to the door itself. People could drop off their proxies in that box, although it was rare.

I don't know what went on before I moved to the community, but I haven't heard of any problems since I've been there. That includes 10 years on the board, where the proxies are usually turned in to establish quorum (no one nominated themselves for a spot on the board). If our president happened to be up for re-election, another board officer would cast the vote. Since virtually no one announced they were running for a spot (we also allow nominations from the floor), board members usually win by people have usually won by acclamation.

Sometimes I think people make proxy use more difficult then what it should be, but we do live in times where people are coming up with more schemes to commit voter suppression. If people want to turn in proxies, the instructions should be written in a way that everyone understands them - part of the problem is people don't pay attention and sign the things without reading them first, hand them to whoever knocks on the door, don't consider who they're trusting to cast a vote in their behalf - and then they're shocked when the math doesn't math (there are only 100 units, one vote per unit - why are there 150 proxies in this box??) The proxies should be mailed to a place where ace where they're secured, like a post office box where access to that box is limited. Two people should be on hand to open it up and collect the envelopes, which could be placed in another security container that's not to be unlocked until the day of the meeting. Bring the container to the meeting, unlock it in front of everyone and then have a small group of volunteers open each ballot and count them in front of everyone. When the envelopes are picked up, a piece of tape could be placed across the top and side so you could tell if it was opened. The volunteers shouldn't be running for a spot - in fact, I'd prefer that they not be involved in a campaign to ensure fairness. You could hire people who don't live in the neighborhood at all to do this (perhaps a bookkeeper).

Thanks Sheila!

I think you may have helped me a few years ago on this.

Does your association use 'directed proxies' also? I wasn't clear by your post. if you do allow directed proxies does the manager simply keep them as a completed ballot and include them in the vote counts.

Our board will NOT allow any proxies to be mailed to the board/manager or secretary. Owners must bring the proxies to the annual meeting and owners can only bring 5 proxies to the meeting. The 5 proxy rule was really meant for 'general' proxies, but now they are applying this limit to directed proxies as well. Funny how that works. When I asked for a directed proxy 2 years ago I was told there was no such thing - lol

In my mind a directed proxy is close to an absentee ballot for HOA's. The directed proxy should be collected by either the manager,secretary or election supervisor.

Thanks

Thanks,

That is correct. I only learned about the "directed" form of a proxy on this site. Of course when I requested to vote by directed proxy my board told me their was no such thing as a directed proxy and I just can't make up terms. That god this page is here .

The real important change that was also added to the law was a provision on "proper notice" and I believe you helped me understand that. Our association would mail the articles 21 days in advance of the meeting and then allow them to be amended the day of the meeting.

(b) The complete text of all voting articles must be included in the properly noticed meeting agenda. Voting on articles amended during a meeting must be deferred until the next properly noticed meeting. Proper notice must be delivered to all condominium owners in accordance with the provisions in RSA 356-B:37

Thanks
,

The way it works for us -

The Association receives a directed proxy from the proxy representative at the meeting.
The Secretary will mark the ballot in accordance to the directed proxy (typically with a marker).
The Secretary would then hand the marked ballot to the proxy representative to turn in (or not, as was pointed out as an option).
The Secretary would then keep the directed proxy.

Thanks Sheila,

You are preaching to the choir. I'm well informed on the different forms of proxies, many because of this page and much research, but our 450 association members are not. I agree, we should simply offer absentee ballots, but the board doesn't allow them. The board doesn't even want directed proxies.

I'll likely either work with the legislature to add absentee ballots as a voting option or gather signatures for a special meeting. I'm tired of the games played with proxies.

Thanks

John,

To be quite honest, I don’t know why you convinced your legislature to pass this law. If I couldn’t trust my nominee to follow my desires on an issue, I wouldn’t give them the proxy.

Because I want my voting rights and I want the choice of how I cast my vote to be mine, not the boards.

The major part of the law change is the clarification of "proper notice". Not sure if your association allows this, but our association would amend voting articles at the annual meeting with less than 150 of 450 owners in attendance knowing about the change.

The law never allowed day of meeting amendments, but we did it anyway because it wasn't spelled out in laymen's terms in the law. The law requires a 21 day notice of the agenda so that all owners can see what is being voted on. The owners can then decide whether or not to attend the meeting.

Our association is a seasonal condo, nobody is allowed to be a resident. Many owners can't attend the annual.

Thanks
John

Thanks,

Nobody is sitting around watching ESPN. This is a seasonal vacation condo association on a lake in NH. After labor day, when the annual meeting is held, the association is empty. Before anyone says, then simply change the date of the annual meeting, it isn't that easy. The bylaws state the date of the meeting and it takes 304 votes to change that bylaw. We rarely exceed 250 votes cast. During covid when we did mail-in voting we had 400 owners of 456 vote. They are not lazy, they are simply not at the park.

it is a 300 mile round trip for me to attend annual meeting and cast a vote on 5-10 articles. I have missed my grandson's first 6 birthday parties to vote as his birthday falls on the same weekend as the annual meeting, 3rd sat in Sept. That said, I have NEVER in 18 years missed attending the annual meeting because I refused to give my general proxy to the proxy horders. I'm fighting for other owners, not me. If the board fought for these owners then I wouldn't need to.

I'm trying to fix our elections to make it easier for remote owners to vote. If we don't fix the elections then our documents will never change since they require 304 votes.

Thanks
John

My question was simply about the processes associations use to handle directed proxies. Yes,there are things we can do to improve processes, but no really only concerned about directed proxies.

I think Tim's process is a good model.

Thanks everyone

Thanks!

I found a website that lists the HOA voting options for each state. There are 23 states that now include absentee and electronic voting.

My goal is to make NH the 24th state.

John