Ballots

[Guest Elizabeth Myers]

Our Board of Directors for a Property Owners Association sent to the members (residents and property owners) a proposed amended covenants package containing a ballot to be completed and returned by the deadline date of March 15th. I am a resident of this community and was contacted by one new resident and by a property owner who lives out-of-state that the president of the Board of Directors called to ask them why they voted against the proposed amended covenants. This action took place before the March 15th deadline. The property owners received notification of our annual meeting and we were informed that the opening and talleying of the ballots would take place during the meeting. Does this negate the voting process? What should be done about this situation. It is obviously wrong what the president did. What recourse do we have in this matter?

[Chris Harrison]

Our Board of Directors for a Property Owners Association sent to the members (residents and property owners) a proposed amended covenants package containing a ballot to be completed and returned by the deadline date of March 15th. I am a resident of this community and was contacted by one new resident and by a property owner who lives out-of-state that the president of the Board of Directors called to ask them why they voted against the proposed amended covenants. This action took place before the March 15th deadline. The property owners received notification of our annual meeting and we were informed that the opening and talleying of the ballots would take place during the meeting. Does this negate the voting process? What should be done about this situation. It is obviously wrong what the president did. What recourse do we have in this matter?

It is quite suspicious that a) the ballots were opened prior to when the notification says they are to be and that the President was able to tell who cast the vote (unless the vote was held by signed ballot so the secrecy is waived). If the ballots are indeed supposed to be secret and I were that property owner who got confronted by the President I would make sure to show up at the meeting and raise a Point of Order that the security and secrecy of the ballots seems to be lacking because a) how would anyone know how I voted unless they were able to identify my particular ballot and the ballots weren't even supposed to be opened or counted until the meeting itself so someone seems to have breached the security of the ballot process.