Posted:
Kelsey,
Wow! To answer your questions completely I could write pages.
Nobody here is likely to tell you what is "legal" in that they are not going to give you legal advice. What you will get are opinions, and they may not all be the same.
Most of the information you need will be found in your governing documents and/or your state laws. You need to get started reading your documents.
The voting requirements and what powers are invested in your board should be found in your bylaws and in your CCRs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, also sometimes called a Declaration).
You should pick up a book on parliamentary procedure, such as Roberts Rules. You can get a simplified version that's easier to understand for about $7. Most HOAs don't adhere strictly to Roberts Rules, but you will find information on voting procedures and the explanations of many parliamentary terms such as what a quorum is, what an abstention means, etc. in there.
In many HOAs, the power to make most decisions, such as make rules and regulations, review and negotiate contracts and hire contractors, prepare, and sometime adopt, the budget, make assessments, pay bills, etc. are vested in the board. Usually, the board cannot set the qualifications for board membership, nor can they elect the board members, although they sometimes can fill board vacancies for the remainder of the term. Many HOA boards elect the officers, but in some HOAs that's done by the homowners. Generally, officers serve for one year. The terms for board members varies. Sometimes its for one year, sometimes they serve staggered terms. You should find all of this in your governing documents. Nobody here can tell you exactly what is true for your HOA. Many HOAs are similar, but there are differences.
A quorum is the number of members required to conduct business. For your executive board (or board of directors) it's usually a majority. So, if you have a 5-member board, at least three members must attend a meeting to legally conduct business.
The quorum for the meeting of a homeowners may be entirely different. Often. it is set intentionally low to protect against homeowner apathy. A quorum of the homeowners may be as low as 10 or 20 percent. Your documents will tell you what it is.
Voting is by majority, except for some issues which may require a supermajority, such as 2/3. The question is, a majority or 2/3 of what?
Again, your documents will tell you. It could be a majority of the members present AND voting (this is the default rule according to parliamentary procedure). It could be a majority of the members present, which is not the same thing. It could be a majority of all the members eligible to vote, whether they are attending the meeting or not. Again, all this is in your documents.
According to accepted parliamentary procedure, an abstention is not a vote and is never counted as one, no matter what its effect on the actual outcome is.
Proxy voting is not the same as absentee voting. Whether or not it is allowed should be in your documents. Proxy voting is generally not allowed for board meetings, but may be allowed for homeowner meetings. A proxy is a power of attorney given by a homeowner that is eligible to vote to another person to vote for him or her. The proxy votes in the homeowners place, and, unless instructed specifically by the homeowner how to vote on an issue, may vote any way he or she sees fit, supposedly, acting in the best interests of the homeowner as if he or she were actually present.
