Voting

Started by LaverneB • 9 replies • 1299 views

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LaverneB (Florida)
Posts: 129

Posted:

We are going to either pave roads or paint the homes in our community, both of which are included with our HOA fees. But we can't do both in one year, the board suggests the roads but we are letting the people vote, since it is their money.Some clown,(always one) in the comminity, said we are doing it all wrong and mentioned 'preferential voting" now I am not a lawyer , but this guy is driving me nuts!!Lived here 5 years all of a sudden he is"Mr. " know it all. This is homeowner run and we all do the best we can.I put in alot of hours per week FREE, and don't need this man he calls the house early morning, letters in my door, etc..I may need a lawyer to get this man to leave me alone

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

IMHO, the Board should have decided - based on research and need of expediency - what ONE issue needs to be dealt with first. Then propose a motion and let the voters decide if the vote gets approved with a majority (or whatever) vote. If the roads get turned down, then present the painting proposal (or however the Board feels the need to be presented)

You may fail to reach a majority vote (or whatever is your requirement) if you use preferential voting.

BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535

Posted:

Laverne,

You don't need a lawyer. You need a parliamentarian.

Preferential voting is described on page 411 of Robert's Rules (10th ed).
If you only have two choices, preferential voting doesn't apply. So, that's how much your troublesome homeowner knows. Yes, he's a real clown.

Preferential voting is only used when there are more than two choices. It allows you to take less preferred choices into account when no choice achieves a majority.

Chances are your bylaws won't allow you to use preferential voting anyway, except possibly some form of it for the election of board members.

If you have only two choices, a member picks one or the other. The choice with the majority of votes wins. That's it. Simple.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Florida Voting Statutes do allow for "preferential voting so tell the guy that he should read the Statutes to see what is allowed, then to read your Bylaws on voting procedures.

I think that your first error was to open up the option to the owners for a choice. This should have been open for a discussion between members and the Board at a members meeting. Having that information, then the Board should have made the call. I hope the cow did not get out of the barn and everyone already knows about the vote possibility.

BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DonnaS on 05/18/2008 5:09 PM

Florida Voting Statutes do allow for "preferential voting so tell the guy that he should read the Statutes to see what is allowed, then to read your Bylaws on voting procedures.

I think that your first error was to open up the option to the owners for a choice. This should have been open for a discussion between members and the Board at a members meeting. Having that information, then the Board should have made the call. I hope the cow did not get out of the barn and everyone already knows about the vote possibility.

OK. But if there are only two choices, one of them must achieve a majority (or else there is a tie). So, preferential voting is still logically meaningless, since you would choose the option with the most votes, and with only 2 choices, that would be the one with the majority.

BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535

Posted:

Donna,

Just curious. Having lived in Florida previously, I'm interested in your statement that "Florida voting statutes allow for preferential voting." Can you point me to the statute where this is? I'm curious to read what this has to say. Thanks.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Bruce,

OH MY GOD!!! I omitted the NOT--Fl does NOT allow for preferential voting. Good eyes and Thanks for calling me on it. (I am not a typist and cannot read & type at the same time.

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

LaVerne,

Frankly, I think your problem is a no-brainer. Isn't it more important to keep the roads in good condition rather than painting the homes? Sounds to me like the board made the right decision on that but the wrong decision deciding to let the members decide. Using the excuse "it's their money" could apply to every decision the board has to make that involves spending money. The board needs to remember it's their responsibility to run the assn. Unless the gov. docs. explicitly say the member are required to vote on a particular issue, the board should be making all the decisions. Asking the members for their opinion on a particular issue is one thing, asking them to vote on it is entirely different.

However, since you've already started the ball rolling on this, IMO, the board needs to call a special meeting to vote on the proposal. Or send out ballots, to be mailed in. Unless otherwise stated in the gov. docs., whatever proposal recieves the highest number of votes wins. Let it be known that if it ends in a tie, the board makes the decision.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

Laverne, what and why did your board decide on this method to make this decision between the two? They are NOT equal in any sense. It's like apples and oranges.

What do your bylaws say about the needed vote to pass such a decision? How will you deem the "winner"?

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

Mary, Susan, Donna & Bruce to see why the vote is happening go to: http://www.hoatalk.com/Forum/tabid/55/forumid/1/postid/45989/view/topic/Default.aspx For some reason she started another thread instead of answering here.

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

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