Condo Board Election: Holding Condo Board Elections

A condominium association (COA) is a non-profit organization that is formed by the owners of units in a condo development. It is governed by condominium bylaws or covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) that outline member rights and responsibilities.

The condominium association is managed by a board of directors elected from within the community, usually on a pro-bono or volunteer basis. This is why the association may be assisted by property managers or a management company. When electing new board members, the association needs to hold elections where candidates can run for the open board positions. Condo association elections are similar to HOA board elections.

A condominium association ensures the repair, cleanliness, and maintenance of general common elements that are used by all unit owners. These include sidewalks, hallways, parking lots, elevators, grounds, and pools.

The association may also be responsible for maintaining limited common elements, which may be used by certain condo owners, such as siding, balconies, and roofs.

While a condo association is mostly responsible for the maintenance of the building, it also has several other responsibilities, such as:

• Looking after the day-to-day condominium business, such as maintenance coordination and contract negotiation
• Collecting dues from all condo association members, as condo owners are collectively responsible for maintaining the building as a whole
• Enforcing the community CC&Rs, such as requiring unit owners to have insurance, expecting the owner to maintain their condominium, and more
• Creating an annual expense budget based on past data and projections to handle yearly repair and maintenance bills
• Holding regular association meetings to discuss the needs to the community
• Updating governing documents and holding condominium association elections to elect a new board

Sometimes, condo associations can have all the responsibility and none of the support, causing them to run into challenges. Let’s take a look at three of the most common issues condominium associations face:

1. Condo Board Election Challenges

The election of the condominium association's board of directors is held at the annual meeting, with the board voting process differing from state to state. The meeting enables condo owners to vote by percentage of interest and must follow the association's bylaws, voting procedures, and state regulations. The election meeting can be held online or in-person.

Unfortunately, because condominium elections are mostly held using paper ballots, issues with compliance and ballot duplication can arise. Plus, without attorney or manager supervision, people may make erroneous claims about incorrect voting tabulation, submit fraudulent proxy votes, or delay the election process by having conflicts of interest with other association members or election candidates. This makes it difficult to preserve the integrity of the condominium election process.

2. Budget or Financial Challenges

Because every condominium owner has a say in how the building is maintained, most associations run into residential backlash in the form of financial challenges if they use condo fees for projects members don’t agree with, such as holding board member or committee elections.

Similarly, some condominium owners may defer collections payments, which can cause the association to run out of money for repairs and maintenance.

3. Management Challenges

If a condo development doesn’t have enough people volunteering to maintain the building, the overall living standards fall and cause a decline in the value of the community, leading to a drop in property value. Similarly, if the property manager hired to maintain the building isn’t performing to the association’s requirements, this can lead to a decline in quality of life (QoL) among the condo residents.

While all the challenges mentioned above may seem to stem from different problems, they actually have a common root: an ineffective election process. A condominium board of directors is responsible for keeping the day-to-day business on track to ensure the the community is happy and thriving.

However, if these board members are ineffective, they won’t be able to manage the development and maintain the QoL that residents expect. To ensure that doesn’t happen, condo unit owner associations have to make sure their election process enables residents to select candidates who can do their jobs effectively.

Whether holding a condo or cooperative board election, Electionbuddy is here to help

Here’s how to promote effective condo board elections among your community members:

1. Understand the association bylaws to figure out how many votes are needed to meet a quorum and how many are required for candidates to win an election.
2. Find out who is eligible for a director or board position, who can vote in the election, and how the percentage interest will be divided. Typically, if one board position is open, each unit owner will have one vote, but if three board positions are open, each will have three votes.
3. Encourage interest in community members through active outreach programs on social media and face-to-face meetings. Candidates can even campaign to get voter support and encourage members to vote in the election.
4. Send a notice of the election to condo owners. For instance, in Florida, owners must receive a notice at least sixty days before the election. A notice will also help increase the turnout at your condominium elections.
5. Hire an inspector of elections to keep track of the election ballots, proxies, and attendance on election day to ensure that each ballot is cast and counted properly.
6. Tabulate the votes carefully to ensure there are no duplicates or proxies that don’t meet the association bylaws or state regulations, if any.
7. Document the entire election process to protect the association's interest in case of a ballot tabulation dispute. Documents can provide evidence that the election was conducted properly.