Voting quorums stipulate the minimum number of members who need to participate in an election or voting process for the outcomes to be upheld. For HOAs, this means the California HOA inspector of elections they appoint needs to verify that, for example, at least half of the members have voted.
Although the exact quorum is normally set out in the HOA governing documents and bylaws, amended legislation from 2024 onward has also reduced the standard thresholds for those without a clear quorum.
This new statute requires quorums to be at least 20% of membership for board elections, including members participating via HOA electronic voting options. Lower quorums included in government documents override this standard threshold.
Over the last year, major reforms have impacted a wide range of election processes, including updated California HOA absentee voting regulations that allow organizations to adopt optional electronic voting. The key amendments to be aware of include:
If an HOA proceeds with an election process, and its specific quorum is not reached, the board can then call a subsequent vote or meeting, but this must be at least twenty days after the date of the original process. In that case, the membership quorum required to elect new board members will default to 20% of the HOA membership, regardless of whether members vote by secret ballot, electronically, in person, or by nominating a proxy.
The inspector of elections is responsible for checking that a quorum has been reached. This could be done by counting the members present in person at a meeting where a vote has been called or by calculating the percentage of members who have voted by other means.
Without a quorum, a vote cannot go ahead because not enough members are present for the results to showcase the general views and wishes of the members the HOA exists to represent. Inspectors can verify a quorum in various ways, such as checking that voters and proxies are indeed eligible to vote and monitoring the circulation and counts of electronic and mail-in votes to confirm that all the relevant regulations and procedures have been followed.
These rules mean HOAs must appoint a suitably qualified and experienced independent person or organization to act as their inspector, with most choosing to select a service provider like ElectionBuddy. Alongside election oversight and management, services extend to election administration, facilitating mail-in and electronic voting, and transparency in vote tallying and reporting to ensure all members are satisfied that the election has been correctly handled.
The introduction of flexible and convenient voting processes itself tends to mean fewer HOAs face the issue of holding an election without a valid outcome due to a lack of member participation. By offering members accessible ways to vote, such as through a mail-in ballot or requesting an electronic ballot be sent to them by email, most barriers to participation are removed.
However, HOAs can also work to engage members in the voting process to communicate why their views and opinions are relevant and needed or incentivize them to take part, provided they remain compliant with the regulations.
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