Balancing HOA Member Interests With Plurality Voting

Plurality voting is a form of election in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins. This voting method can be used to balance member interests, as it allows for a diverse spread of options to be present on ballots. This form of election is especially easy using HOA online voting.

What Plurality Voting Means

The easiest way to explain plurality voting is to start by understanding majority voting in HOA elections. Majority voting is what it sounds like: a candidate or measure wins if it receives more than half the votes cast. One of the downsides of majority elections is they sometimes require runoffs, but they are often the easiest form of election for simple yes/no issues.

Plurality voting can simplify logistics. All an HOA does is count the votes and whoever receives the most wins. However, plurality voting can create situations in which a candidate only gets, for example, 35% of member votes, and wins. 

This can cause issues with representation, which in turn can cause issues with membership trusting the HOA to have their interests at heart. Over time, this can create tension or voter disengagement.

Checklist for Making Plurality Voting Work in HOAs

How to Balance Interests

If an HOA wants the benefits that come with plurality voting, it’s in their best interest to take actions that will reduce the possible downsides. Here are some things they can do:

• Improve turnout: Higher member participation in elections grants outcomes greater legitimacy in the eyes of the members.
• Simplify voting: The easier it is to vote, the more members are likely to do it.
• Provide transparency: Explaining the process of plurality and how elections are run (including how online election software functions) can help establish belief in the system.
• Ensure privacy: If conducting elections using physical ballots, HOAs should make it clear how they are ensuring privacy in voting. If conducting votes online, they should showcase how the chosen platform keeps member votes anonymous.
• Use other systems: Plurality is perhaps most useful when used selectively. It isn’t uncommon for HOAs to create multiple thresholds of requirement for different votes (maybe plurality voting is used for smaller issues, and a two-thirds majority is needed to amend the bylaws).

The Administrator’s Side

Administering elections is one of those things that an HOA board member might not train for, but find themselves doing regularly. Distributing ballots, notifying members, pulling together candidate information, ensuring privacy, and safely and anonymously tabulating votes can be time consuming and difficult. Because of all that work, an HOA might be tempted to pick the simplest voting structure.

If an HOA administrator doesn’t think plurality is the smartest way to hold a vote, but is worried about the demand that will be placed on them to conduct runoff elections, they should consider hiring a third party to help.

Making Plurality Work

If an HOA goes the path of plurality voting, they need to start looking for ways to boost turnout and simplify the voting process. Increasing participation in HOA elections online is easier when using established platforms, such as ElectionBuddy. Our platform also has high levels of security, meaning the process and the results can be trusted!