Published October 26, 2022
With election season upon us, has your community set up electronic voting? In many communities, voter apathy is an issue with members not returning their proxy and not attending meetings. Not only does this impact elections, but also other membership votes, such as amending the governing documents, voting on material alterations, etc.. One way to simplify the voting process for members is for the community to authorize and implement electronic voting. The Florida legislature has authorized electronic voting for elections and other membership votes in condominiums, cooperatives, and homeowners’ associations since 2015. Many communities, however, have not taken advantage of this option, even though electronic voting is a vital tool to encourage member participation at meetings.
In authorizing electronic voting, the Legislature set forth several statutory requirements to do so, which are discussed below. As always with statutory requirements, it is important to discuss the matter with association counsel to ensure that your community correctly implements its online voting system.
First, a unit owner must consent in writing to online voting. This consent is distinct from a unit owner’s consent to receiving certain notices by electronic transmission. However, for administrative ease and efficiency, association counsel can prepare a form for your community on which owners have the option to consent to either, or to both, receiving official association notices by e-mail and to online voting together. For the owners who consent to electronic voting, these consent forms become part of the association’s official records that are open to inspection upon written request from an owner. Unlike other official records which must be maintained either for seven years or permanently as outlined in the statute, papers and electronic records relating to voting must be maintained for one year from the date of the election, vote, or meeting. An owner who consents to electronic voting may opt out later.
In addition to the consent form, the association should have association counsel prepare the board resolution authorizing the online voting system, as the statute contains several requirements for this resolution. The board resolution must provide that unit owners receive notice of the opportunity to vote through an online voting system, must establish reasonable procedures and deadlines for unit owners to consent, in writing, to online voting, and must establish reasonable procedures and deadlines for unit owners to opt out of online voting after giving consent. Written notice of a meeting at which the resolution will be considered must be mailed, delivered, or electronically transmitted to the unit owners and posted conspicuously on the condominium property or association property at least 14 days before the meeting. Evidence of compliance with the 14-day notice requirement must be made by an affidavit executed by the person providing the notice and filed with the official records of the association.
Prior to any membership vote taken at a meeting, except for the election of board directors, a specific quorum must be reached. The statute provides that a unit owner voting electronically is counted as being in attendance at the meeting for purposes of determining a quorum. Thus, setting up electronic voting and having owners’ consent to using electronic voting helps the association achieve quorum and required approvals by making it easier for owners to be “present” and to vote.
The statute dictates several requirements for the association to set up online voting. The association must provide each unit owner for a method to authenticate the unit owner’s identity to the online voting system and a method to confirm that the unit owner’s electronic device can successfully communicate with the online voting system. The method to confirm that the unit owner’s device will be able to communicate with the system must be available at least fourteen days before the voting deadline. The online system must also be able to authenticate the unit owner’s identity and to authenticate the validity of each electronic vote to ensure that the vote is not altered in transit. The system needs to also be able to transmit a receipt to each unit owner who casts his or her electronic vote.
In addition to the above, for elections of the board of directors of the association, the association must also provide a method to transmit the electronic ballot to the online voting system that ensures the secrecy and integrity of the ballot. They system must also be able to permanently separate any authentication or identifying information from the electronic election ballot. This is so that it is impossible to tie an election ballot to a specific unit owner. The system needs to be able to store and keep electronic votes as accessible to election officials in the event that a recount, inspection, and/or review is required.
These specific requirements are found in Section 718.128 of the Condominium Act, Section 719.129 of the Cooperative Act, and Section 720.317 of the Homeowners Association Act. To learn more about how to properly set up electronic voting for your community and the statutory requirements, speak with your association counsel.
Karyan San Martano
Attorney at Law, Becker
Ft. Lauderdale | bio
