LizJ (Florida)
Posts: 34
Posts: 34
Posted:
We are a FLORIDA HOA. We currently have 1 opening on our board which will be filled by election at our Annual Meeting.
Our property manager sent out notice of the opening along with notice that any homeowner who wanted to be a candidate for the opening had to submit his or her name by a certain date to be on the ballot. 2 homeowners applied and the property manager prepared and mailed a ballot with the 2 names to all homeowners stating that they could vote by mailing the ballot back to the property manager or in person at the Annual Meeting or by giving a proxy to someone else to cast a vote at the Annual Meeting. The property manager also stated in his letter that no nominations would be allowed from the floor at the Annual Meeting.
There are 2 potential problems - 1) The property manager's letter regarding election procedure was wrong; he cited condo law in FL and we are an HOA which allows self-nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting; and 2) One of the candidates withdrew from the election after the ballots were mailed out.
Questions - 1) Do we have a potentially invalid election because of incorrect information on how to run for the board vacancy? And, 2) What happens to any votes cast for the withdrawn candidate by mailing a ballot to the property manager without knowing that the candidate withdrew? Are those votes simply discarded? Do votes cast by mail count toward the quorum requirment for the Annual Meeting? Governing docs and statutes are silent as far as I can tell. Do Robert's Rules apply? (Should that be "Does Robert's Rules apply?")
Our property manager sent out notice of the opening along with notice that any homeowner who wanted to be a candidate for the opening had to submit his or her name by a certain date to be on the ballot. 2 homeowners applied and the property manager prepared and mailed a ballot with the 2 names to all homeowners stating that they could vote by mailing the ballot back to the property manager or in person at the Annual Meeting or by giving a proxy to someone else to cast a vote at the Annual Meeting. The property manager also stated in his letter that no nominations would be allowed from the floor at the Annual Meeting.
There are 2 potential problems - 1) The property manager's letter regarding election procedure was wrong; he cited condo law in FL and we are an HOA which allows self-nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting; and 2) One of the candidates withdrew from the election after the ballots were mailed out.
Questions - 1) Do we have a potentially invalid election because of incorrect information on how to run for the board vacancy? And, 2) What happens to any votes cast for the withdrawn candidate by mailing a ballot to the property manager without knowing that the candidate withdrew? Are those votes simply discarded? Do votes cast by mail count toward the quorum requirment for the Annual Meeting? Governing docs and statutes are silent as far as I can tell. Do Robert's Rules apply? (Should that be "Does Robert's Rules apply?")