An election can be an excellent opportunity to showcase how things are done in a professional manner with fairness, transparency, and competent understanding and execution of the procedures. Besides understanding the legal requirements, there are administrative and logistical preparations to establish a level of trust and confidence in the election process. Let's review a few of these…

The association should have an updated record of its resident roster, an actual copy of the mailed notice, and a signed and notarized affidavit of mailing proving the notices were placed in the mail within the required timeframe. This basic administrative requirement can sometimes present challenges at even the most basic and least controversial elections.

Upon receiving any candidate forms, the association should properly screen the candidates for applicable candidacy requirements established in its bylaws and state statutes. This may include ownership, assessment balances, and other issues like term limitations that will need to be settled and quickly communicated to the candidates and the existing board of directors.

Every association should record a formal written legal opinion from its attorney on the eligibility requirements and procedure applicable to the association from a review of its governing documents and applicable state statute. Moreover, the association attorney should be present at the election to moderate the meeting and provide professional interpretations of the election process as issues may arise during the meeting.

Suppose the election is expected to be controversial. In that case, the current board can work with fellow unit owners to petition a state certified election monitor to be present and assist in the election process. This will also establish a great deal of confidence and trust in the election process.

If the community is large and participation is expected to be high, provide enough registration time before the actual election meeting. Registration should include verification of ownership, review of proxies, and issuing controlled ballot forms.

A separate table and independent group of individuals should be set up ahead of time for the redundant review of the ballots, tallying the votes, and reporting the results to the attorney and/or election monitor.

This is sometimes a tense process, and everyone should work to maintain civility. Emotions should be kept in check, and the board should allow the professionals to execute the election procedure in a way that will instill professionalism.