RobertJ

Four members submitted a declaration of candidacy form and those four names are on the ballot that was mailed out. The ballot states that there are seven positions to be filled. There are also some blank lines for any writein candidates which of course would have to be nominated from the floor at the Annual Meeting. Included in the mailing are instructions regarding cumulative voting - that each member can cast seven votes for any or all of the candidates. I don't have access to the ballot form presently so I can't now quote the exact wording. Agreed, I would like to limit any discussion on this forum to discussion pertaining specifically to Roberts Rules of Order. Thank you all again for your responses.

Floor nominations are permitted according to the election rules adopted by the HOA. The election rules are required to be adopted by the HOA per state law and must adhere to state law guidelines. All voting is still done using the double envelope secret ballot process. The ballots in the double envelope can be handed to the Inspectors of Election at the Annual Meeting.

Thank you, Daniel, for your response. The balloting procedure is dictated by state law not the HOA's bylaws. State law requires ballots be mailed to all members 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting using the "double envelope secret ballot process" and allow for the ballot be mailed "to the address designated by the inspector(s) of election". If attendance at a meeting by a quorum of homeowners were required in order to complete the election, I think that a quorum would most likely never show up at one meeting and the election would never be completed. In past elections votes have been received by 25-30% of the homeowners with usually no more than 5% of the homeowners attending the Annual Meeting. I think this is typical for most homeowners associations. A quorum is 25% at an adjourned Annual Meeting after the first Annual Meeting failed to meet a 50% quorum per the HOA's bylaws. Regarding candidates receiving the same number of votes resulting In a tie, I don't know that the HOA's election rules, bylaws or State law address this situation. Perhaps the HOA may consider revising its election rules to decide what to do in this event.

Yes, I've read RONR, 11th ed., p. 444, lines 18-27 and I understand that per RONR that a person who is nominated for election and receives votes but has not communicated whether or not he/she would accept such nomination would have an opportunity to decline or accept such nomination after the votes are counted. I don't know that this aspect of nomination is delineated in state law, the HOA's bylaws or the HOA's election rules so I would think that RONR would apply in this situation. State law requires a "double envelope secret ballot process" and requires that the votes be counted. The HOA's bylaws allow each member to vote for 7 candidates to fill 7 positions and also allow for cumulative voting so that a member may cast 1 vote for each of 7 candidates, or 7 votes for 1 candidate, or 3 votes for 1 candidate and 4 votes for another candidate, etc. The HOA's Bylaws also state that "the candidates receiving the highest number of votes, up to the number of Board members to be elected, shall be deemed elected." So based on this bylaw it appears to me that a candidate would not require a majority of votes to be elected. If there are only five people nominated for seven positions and one of the five receives one vote then that person would be elected. This election is now in process.The ballots have been mailed to the members and ballots will be available at the Annual Meeting in March. A quorum for the Annual Meeting is 50% for the initial Annual Meeting and drops to 25% for an adjourned Annual Meeting. Experience has shown that quorum would most likely not be achieved for the first Annual Meeting and barely achieved for an adjourned Annual Meeting. Thank you all for your responses.

Per the HOA's Bylaws: "A vacancy shall be deemed to exist ... in the case where the Members of the Association fail at any time to elect the full number of authorized Directors." I cited this in an earlier post. So there would be no repeated balloting since the HOA's Bylaws take precedence over RONR. Also, it's my understanding that State law would take precedence over RONR. State Law requires an HOA to adopt election rules so I would think that the election rules adopted by an HOA per state law would take precedence over RONR.

Thank you Shmuel for your reply. Per State Law the HOA has adopted election rules which state: "A candidate that receives a nomination must also receive at least one vote to be elected, regardless of the number of candidates or the number of positions to be filled." The seven positions are not differentiated in any way. Once elected, the Board Members choose which Board Member would fill each position (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Board Member at Large). So if there are only seven candidates that are nominated, a candidate would be elected with one or more votes.

Thank you all for your responses. This election is actually now in process. The hypothetical situation I posed may or may not come to pass as I described it. Once the votes of a quorum of Homeowners is received and the votes are counted, it would be up to the Inspectors of Election appointed by the current HOA Board to decide based on their knowledge of the HOA's bylaws, RONR and State law what will be the outcome.

Thank you all for your responses. In regards to this HOA, per the HOA's bylaws if all Board positions would not be filled due to lack of members volunteering to fill them, one or more vacancies would be created and any vacancies could then be filled by the soon to be elected Board. As I understand it per these bylaws and RONR that the election would be then completed when Homeowner A either accepted the nomination and was thus elected or declined the nomination. If Homeowner A accepted then there would be six elected Board Members and one vacancy. If Homeowner A did not accept the nomination then there would be five elected Board Members and two vacancies. This HOA's bylaws state with regard to the HOA Board : "A vacancy shall be deemed to exist ... in the case where the Members of the Association fail at any time to elect the full number of authorized Directors." The bylaws also state that vacancies on the Board can be filled by vote of the existing HOA Board. I understand that these bylaws would take precedence over RONR 11th ed., p. 444, lines 16-27 which state that the election would be incomplete and another vote be taken.

Thank you, Hieu and jstackpo for your replies. When the election has been completed any open positions could be filled by vote of the existing HOA Board. I'm wondering if there are any RONR references regarding being elected subject to acceptance of a nomination before, during or after the ballots are counted.

Yes, per the election rules a Homeowner must receive at least 1 vote to be elected.

I'm looking for clarification regarding a Homeowners Association (HOA) election. Consider the following hypothetical situation: An HOA has adopted election rules for election to the HOA Board of Directors. The election is held at the HOA's Annual Meeting. The election rules state that HOA members (homeowners) in good standing can be nominated for election to the HOA Board by submitting a "Declaration of Candidacy" form to the HOA's Management company 40 days before the Annual Meeting, or can be nominated from the floor at the Annual Meeting prior to the close of balloting. Five homeowners submit a declaration of candidacy form 40 days prior to the election for the 7 open HOA Board positions. So there are two Board Member positions that could be filled by nomination at the Annual Meeting. Homeowner A is nominated at the Annual Meeting my Homeowner B and receives 1 vote. The five Homeowners who submitted a declaration of candidacy form all receive more than 30 votes. No other Homeowners receive any votes. Homeowner A is not present at the Annual Meeting and has not communicated to anyone that he/she is willing to accept a nomination. The HOA's Annual Meeting is governed by Robert's Rules of Order per State law. The HOA's bylaws do not contain any content with regard to nomination procedures. Has Homeowner A been elected to the HOA Board at the Annual Meeting?

I can cite a url link to an Attorney's website explaining all about email meetings if someone can tell me that it's not outside the scope of this forum to do that.

In California as well as many other states, homeowners associations are subject to sunshine laws as well including email meetings where a quorum of board members discuss an item of business.