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STAYING WITH ELECTIONS
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published November 9, 2020
While the nation’s election may be over, the elections in your
community associations are just about ready to get started. So,
here are some things to know……
In a condo, you don’t need a quorum of owners in attendance at
the annual meeting in order to have the election. As long as
20% of the eligible voters actually cast a ballot – you have an
election.
In a condo, unlike in an HOA, you cannot vote for members of the
Board by proxy.
In a condo, if your bylaws don’t say the exact number of board
members, but instead allow for a range, such as “not less than
three, but not more than 7” the number of directors is
automatically 5.
In a condo, the ballots are supposed to be returned in an
envelope marked “Ballot Only”. Suppose the ballot is returned
only in the larger outer envelope, but not the smaller inner
one. Does it still count? Absolutely it does.
Finally, suppose you are verifying the signatures on the
exterior envelopes, and you don’t believe that the signature on
the envelope is the genuine signature of the real owner? Can
you disregard it? Absolutely not. Unless a handwriting expert
says it’s a fake, or you have an affidavit from the owner saying
“that’s not my signature” the vote must be counted.
Know in advance whether or not your community association
requires voting certificates. A voting certificate is a
document signed by all owners of a property designating one of
them as the person authorized to vote. Some associations
require them, some do not. Some require them even for husbands
and wives and some do not. Some only require them for units
owned by a corporation.
Can someone with a power of attorney vote in a condo election?
No. Arbitrators have held that this would be similar to
allowing proxy voting which the statute expressly forbids.
Good luck with your elections. And if you’re not sure about
something, ask your attorney. It’s a lot better than having to
go through the election process twice.
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About
HOA & Condo Blog
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Eric Glazer graduated from
the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after
receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community
association law for more than 2
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decades and is the owner of Glazer
and Sachs, P.A. a seven attorney law firm with offices in
Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and satellite offices in Naples,
Fort Myers and Tampa.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host
of Condo Craze and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs
at noon each Sunday on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
He is the first attorney in the
State of Florida that designed a course that certifies
condominium residents as eligible to serve on a condominium
Board of Directors and has now certified more than 10,000
Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a Circuit
Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated
dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric
also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the
best interest of Florida community association members.
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