New York Condominiums

Ah, the city that never sleeps! Two of my favorite memories from a family road trip to the North Eastern states a few years ago took place in New York:

1. Seeing the Dave Matthews Band walk outside of the Peninsula Hotel, adjacent to Central Park.
2. Watching the Blue Jays face the Yankees at the old Yankee Stadium (even if the first scalper sold us tainted tickets! Only in New York…)

But I digress…

As previously outlined in the article on Condominium Boards in the United States from last week, we will do a feature on some of the major metro areas in the US and what their condominium acts say in regards to elections. Today we start with New York.

Condominium Elections in New York

New York bylaws state the each board of director must be re-elected annually. Their elections can be staggered throughout the year, or done all at once. Regardless, they must be announced at least three months in advance.

If you have an uncontested elections (ie. only one per running), then you can have a voice vote, where owners can simply voice “Yay” or “Nay”. If there are multiple candidates then often an independent election tabulation firm is brought in to calculate the ballots. If you view this Q&A with NY condo experts, you can scroll down to the bottom and read a bit with Linda Gibbs, executive director of the Honest Ballot Association. She mentions that she helps make sure the meetings get a quorum to conduct the vote. The interviewer says that he’s heard of board offering door prizes and raffles, coffee, and cake to get people to show up. I’m reading this and I can’t help but think “If only there was another method of conducting an election to ensure voter turnout!”

If you would like to learn about how online elections can help New York condominiums elect new board members, click here.