August 2025

E-Voting Challenges

By David W. Merritt, Esq., McGovern Legal Services, LLC

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E lectronic voting continues to improve communi ty association governance, maximizing member participation and minimizing election costs and opportunities for dispute. You’ve already heard the good news, passed an e-voting amendment, retained an e-voting vendor, and survived a few elections. However, new tech nology presents new challenges, and some old challenges remain, so a bit of additional planning and preparedness can help ensure your elections don’t run off the rails. • Live Voting: Do your bylaws allow an election without the opportunity to vote in person at the membership meet ing? Many bylaws explicitly address this by allowing a, “Ballot by Mail in lieu of calling a membership meeting.” If your bylaws are silent, then a quick amendment can help minimize expense, confusion, and opportunity for dispute. • Two-Round Elections: Many bylaws require a second round of elections if “more than twice the number of candidates to be elected are nominated.” That can add 60 days to the normal election schedule and cause significant expense, confusion, and upset to members

expecting final results to be posted at the first meeting. Spotting the issue early and passing a quick amendment eliminating the requirement can have a big impact on the election experience. • Election Inspectors: Almost all bylaws call for impar tial election Judges or Inspectors to attend the election meeting to address the validity of abnormal ballots, tally paper ballots, and subscribe to a written affirmation of the results for the meeting minutes. Inspectors must also swear to conduct their duties impartially and to the best of their abilities. Relying on an e-voting vendor’s PDF as the only proof of results means no proper authority is present at the election meeting to address irregularities or certify the results. A quick attendance reminder to the membership and a doc-u-sign form is often all it takes to comply with these requirements and ensure the election is properly documented. • Non-Members as Election Inspectors: While the State prefers ordinary members to serve as election Inspectors, most bylaws permit non-members to fill the role. If the board intends for management or e-voting staff to serve

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AUGUST 2025