Condo Media - January 2017 - 33

alternatives. They still go to bank
branches to deposit or withdraw funds,
they pay their bills by check, and they
want paper ballots.
"Some older owners look forward to
the annual meeting," Schneider notes.
"They are thrilled to get out of their
units and talk to other owners."
Because electronic voting makes it
easy for owners to skip the meeting,
critics note, it eliminates one of the few
opportunities when owners can meet and
mingle. "If you think there are communal
benefits to the annual meeting," one industry executive suggested, "you may not
want to encourage owners to vote online."
Community associations that want
to permit online voting need authorization to do so. Although approximately 20 states have amended their
condominium statutes to provide that
authorization, none in New England
have done so. As long as state law
doesn't prohibit online voting, industry
attorneys agree, associations could
seek owner approval to amend their
bylaws to add that option.
Even in states where the statute permits online voting, associations have
been slow to embrace the idea. "There's
a lot of interest," Schneider reports, "but
no one wants to be the first to put their
toe in the water; they want someone
else to do it first."
DAUNTING REQUIREMENTS
Some state laws may be doing more to
discourage electronic voting than to
encourage it. In Florida, for example,
a series of requirements designed to
prevent fraud have proven daunting
for communities, which must: adopt a
resolution implementing online voting,
obtain the written consent of owners
to vote online, and ensure that vendors
providing online voting:
Have a method to authenticate the
identity of voters;
Have a process to ensure the secrecy
and validity of election ballots; and
Test the system to confirm that the

electronic device owners will use can
communicate with the voting system.
Boards considering online voting for
their communities should contact the
association's attorney first, to determine
whether a bylaw amendment is needed
to authorize that process. In addition,
boards should:
Vet prospective vendors carefully. You
will want to consider a vendor's experience (you don't want to be any company's first client) as well as the scope,
quality, and cost of the services they
offer. Referrals from existing clients
will be the best recommendations.
Plan to offer a hybrid system initially-with both electronic voting and
paper ballots for those who prefer that
option. You can accommodate online
averse voters, easily, Schneider says,
by helping them log-in and vote at a
kiosk in the management office-or by
allowing them to submit paper ballots
at the meeting, which can be keyed
into the online system. "But you want
all the ballots entered into a consolidated system," he emphasizes.
Boards should also plan to educate
owners about the online system long
before it is introduced. "You want
owners to understand the system and
be excited about it, so they will use it,"
Schneider says.
The most important issue boards
should consider, Simms suggests, is not
whether they want to introduce electronic voting but "why they wouldn't
[do so]. This is how the world works
today," he says. "Administering a paperbased election system is a hassle, and it
doesn't have to be."
While associations have moved
slowly to adopt this technology, he is
confident that attitudes and enthusiasm
levels will change over time. "All the
world isn't on board yet," he agrees.
"We're certainly not where we will be in
2026. But we also aren't where we were
in 2006."

Election fraud in condominiums is fairly rare,
"but when it happens, it
is extremely ugly."
-Kenneth Bloom, Principal,
Bloom, Cohen, Hayes
certified mail to document compliance
with the notice requirement.
The quorum requirement for the meeting at which the vote will be held and
the vote required to elect candidates-
whether a percentage of votes cast or a
simple majority.
How election disputes will be
resolved. The rules should note
specifically what disputes, if any, will
require a new election. "It is so easy to
get hung up on procedural niceties,"
Martin notes, that you lose sight of
the goal, which is simply to ensure the
election is fair. "You don't want to exalt process over substance," he says, by
allowing technical flaws to invalidate
an otherwise valid vote.

Well before the election, have
owners verify the accuracy of
the owners-of-record information
used to determine voter eligibility.
Make sure residents understand that
if they aren't the owner of record-for
example, if a parent is living in a unit
that has been deeded to a child, the parent must obtain a proxy from the child
in order to vote.

Pay particular attention to proxies. "People misunderstand them
like crazy," Martin notes. One common
misunderstanding: A proxy is not the
same as an absentee ballot. Governing
documents specify that ballots must
be cast "in person or by proxy," he explains, and an absentee ballot doesn't
meet that definition. An absentee
ballot also won't count toward the
meeting's quorum requirement, ShapJanuary 2017

Condo Media - January 2017

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