Chicago is city rich of condominiums and associations. Condominium associations in the state of Illinois can either be governed by the Illinois Condominium Property Act or that and the Illinois general Not-For-Profit Corporation Act should your condominium association be also a not-for profit corporation. In event of conflict, the Property Act will supersede.

Illinois Condominium Property Act

The Illinois Condominium Property Act sets forth the procedures that associations need to implement when running an election. Prior to an Annual Meeting at which the Board Members are elected, the Board is required to send notice to all Owners advising the date, time and place of the upcoming election.  In addition, it is generally common practice to request names of those Owners that are interested in running for the Board of Directors at the meeting.  Once the Board has the name of the Directors that are interested in running, a proxy or absentee ballot should be mailed to all Owners setting forth all known candidates.

The quorum for your Annual Meeting should be specified in the By-Laws.  If you reside in a condominium association of 20 or more units, quorum shall be twenty (20%) percent unless the Owners have voted to increase the quorum requirement.  If you reside in an association with less than 20 units, you need to check your governing documents for the quorum requirements.  If you reside in a town house or homeowners association, your quorum requirement will depend on your governing documents.

If you would like to learn how ElectionBuddy can easy the election of new board of directors in Illinois condominiums, I invite you to read the following article: How Online Elections Can Help Condominium Boards in the United States

San Francisco is another city that has seen a major boom in condominium construction over the past 10 years. Styles can range from refurbished early 20th century Victorian inspired low-rises to major modern condo towers n the downtown area. Condominiums in the state of California are run by Homeowners Associations and governed under the California Civil Code.

The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act

This is the name of the portion of the California Civil code that governs condominiums, cooperative, and planned unit development communities in California.

In the result of election, the Board of Directors must appoint and independent third party to act as an inspector of the election. The inspector(s) is responsible for determining the number of homeowners are entitle to vote and the voting power of each, receive and tabulate the votes, among other things.

The act sets forth a very strict procedure in which the ballot is cast, involving a mail-in ballot method. Failure to follow election procedure as adopted by the association will invalidate the ballot and the homeowner’s vote. The reason why voting is done in advance and by mail, is to eliminate the need of proxy votes.

You can read the full act here. Section §1363.03 deals specifically with elections. You can also read this article on Homeowners Associations Election Law, from the California Association of Homeowners Associations. It provides a good understanding of all of the election procedures.

To read about how online elections can help Homeowners Association in the state of California, we invite you to read his article on ElectionBuddy and HOAs.

Continuing on with our condominium blog series, we head all the way Wild West – Seattle, WA. OK, maybe not so wild… I hear Seattlites are very laid back. Their condominium market, however has dipped in recent years. In July 2010, the average condo in Seattle coast $290,000. In July 2011, that price has dropped to $255,000. Condo sales has fallen by 6% in that same time period.

Washington Condominium Act

Similar to most states condominium acts, there needs to be a quorum in order to conduct a meeting, and an election for board of directors. In Washington, at least 25% of the allocated votes need to be present for an election to begin. Building and zone by-laws set forth the rules of how votes are divided amongst the owners.

An interesting law for Washington, is in the case of multiple owners owning a unit, yet only one of the showing up to an election. If only one owner shows, then that person is entitled to cast all of the votes allocated to that unit, or can be given a proxy vote by the other owner.

Click here to read the full Condominium act for the State of Washington.

If you would like to learn how ElectionBuddy can easy the election of new board of directors in Seattle condominiums, I invite you to read the following article: How Online Elections Can Help Condominium Boards in the United States

Like New York City, Miami is another major metropolitan area that has seen a boom in condominiums over the last decade. So let’s take a look at condominium board elections in the state of Florida.

The State of Florida Condominium Act

Elections in the State of Florida must be done by secret ballot, however if the number of vacancies equals or exceeds the number of candidates, no election is required. Yearly elections are also required for board members, if there are no provisions in the city bylaws for terms of the members of the board. If Miami, there is none.

Members of the board can either be elected by written ballot or voting machine. Unlike New York, proxies are not allowed in any election relating to condominiums. Votes are tabulated either on a “one vote per unit” or on a weighted percentage basis as stated in the condo documents.

The act has very clear rules on the style of voting as well:

Elections shall be decided by a plurality of those ballots cast. There shall be no quorum requirement; however, at least 20 percent of the eligible voters must cast a ballot in order to have a valid election of members of the board.

To read the full Florida condominium act, click here.

To learn how ElectionBuddy can help the State of Florida’s condominiums during election season, please take a look at this article.

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 an 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 that 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!”

To read the full condominium act for the state of New York, click here.

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

This past spring we looked at the different condominium board election processes across the Canadian Provinces. To read these blog posts, click here.  Over the next few weeks I want to focus on the country south of the 49th parallel and take a look at the condominium board election process in the United Sates.

In the past few years, the condominium industry has boomed, particularly in major metro areas including New York City, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, and Seattle. And it is in those cities that we will look at the state condominium by-laws regarding condo elections. While many communities will still have homeowner associations with their own rules and regulations, there is usually a condominium act that they must adhere to.

You can view the all of the states condominium acts, by clicking here.

The Uniform Condominium Act

Many states have adopted the Uniform Condominium Act, instead of writing their act in regards to condominiums.

For elections, sometimes unit owners will operate on a one vote per unit basis, and other times their will be a weighted voting system put into effect. For example, in an election for a new Board of Directors, each unit owner will have an equal vote. However, on matters concerning ratification of the common expense budget, where the commercial unit owners paid a much larger share than their proportion of the total units, the vote of commercial unit owners would be increased to 3 times the number of votes the residential owners held.

Why Online Elections Help Condominium Boards

1. It shows that you care about your owners and tenants. Using online election software is a sign of modernity and helps increase voter turnout, due to ease of use. Most condo by-laws mandate a quora of at least 51% of owners be present at a meeting to conduct a vote, so by doing it online, you can surely reach that number.
2. Security and confidentiality. Any election that can impact someone’s life needs to be secure. Condominiums can have a lot of  families, and decisions that board makes directly impacts their lives. ElectionBuddy uses 256 bit encryption – the same security major banks rely on to keep you data safe in transit.
3. Not everyone is familiar with candidates for a condo board. These aren’t elections that involve a whole lot of campaigning. That’s why ElectionBuddy offers the ability to add candidate profiles. This way voters can know exactly who they are casting a ballot for. If you would to learn more about adding candidate biographies, click here to read an article on the feature.
4. It’s tidy. Seriously. Paper ballots can get tidy and lead to tampering. As previously stated, online elections are very secure and organized. Don’t believe me? Try ElectionBuddy for yourself. It’s free to sign up, and free for elections under 20 voters.!

What’s the voting process like in your condominium? Have you tried online elections yet? Feel free to leave us a comment below or reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter.

For the past couple of weeks, we’ve looked at condo boards across various provinces, and how online elections can help them elect a new board of directors. We’ve covered Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba. Today we’ll be heading east, and focusing in on Nova Scotia.

This first section was already posted in the Alberta article, but it’s worth repeating.

Why Participation in your Condo Board is Needed

The benefit of having a strong Condo Board serves both a management and policy purpose. The board will make management, and administration decisions and will enforce By-Laws, including rules on pets & parking. They will even be in charge of that pesky elevator that constantly gets stuck on the 4th floor!. Like any elected official, you want them be to proactive and provide solutions to things that aren’t working properly, and make decisions to improve the daily lives of their tenants. It’s important that the right people are elected to the Board because they are the ones called upon each day to make make prudent and effective business decisions that affect the lives of all residents in their corporations. For more information on the Board of Directors and the role they play, visit this link.

Communication

A major positive of having a solid Condo Board in place is communication. Communication between the board and the tenants is crucial to the well-being of the community that makes up the residents. This can be as simple as monthly newsletter, a website, a Facebook page, or a bulletin board in the front foyer. Residents should be informed of the happening. Alberta winters can be harsh, and should their be parking available on the street, then the city might need an afternoon to remove the snow. This would be an instance where communication is crucial from the board to the residents. There’s plenty of ways to open a direct line of communication.

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Electing new board members for a condominium corporation is an important decision. Whenever you elect an official in any capacity, you hope they will fulfill their promises and propose intelligent, and creative solution to problems its citizens are facing.

We have already covered the condo board election process in Alberta and British Columbia, and how online elections can help them elect new board members. Today we’re going to look at the process in Manitoba, home of 100,000 lakes and future home of an NHL franchise (well, hopefully anyway….).

Electing a new Board of Directors

Affairs of condo corporations in Manitoba must be managed by a board of directors. They will hold meetings to discuss issues, perform functions, and they are the ones that hold elections to elect new directors. After an owner/developer ceases to be the owner of a majority of the units in the corporation, the election of a new board of directors must take place within six months.

Why Participation in your Condo Board is Needed

The benefit of having a strong Condo Board serves both a management and policy purpose. The board will make management, and administration decisions and will enforce By-Laws, including rules on pets & parking. They will even be in charge of that pesky elevator that constantly gets stuck on the 4th floor!. Like any elected official, you want them be to proactive and provide solutions to things that aren’t working properly, and make decisions to improve the daily lives of their tenants. It’s important that the right people are elected to the Board because they are the ones called upon each day to make make prudent and effective business decisions that affect the lives of all residents in their corporations.

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It’s a funny thing when you’re doing a blog series. You hope each post is better and more informative than the last. You can see what worked, what didn’t work, improve on the format and structure… But whenever you do research for your next post, you always stumble across something that would have been beneficial for the previous one.  And that’s what happened last Thursday, when I was tightening up the BC Condo Board article. I came across the website Condo-Check, which would have been nice to have a week ago when writing the Alberta blog post.

I was trying to gain some insight on the election process in BC for their condo boards. I was curious as to how votes were allocated and was made aware of the system in place for Alberta. So, I googled a couple of things and found this handy page with condo terms and the distribution of Alberta condo unit votes.  Instead of backtracking and editing the original post, I felt that this information is deserving of a new post.

Condo Unit Factors and How They are Weighed in the Voting Process

“In Alberta, the Unit Factors are based on a total of 10,000 Unit Factors for a Condominium Corporation.

The Unit Factor assigned to the individual unit represents the owners undivided interest share (ownership) of the common property of the Condominium Corporation. The Unit Factor determines the owners voting rights as well as the portion of the operating budget or any special assessment owners are required to contribute, unless bylaws state otherwise.” – Condo-Check.com

In most cases a unit’s share is based off the total square footage within the community. It should also be noted that unit factors can’t be manipulated. They are assigned upon the creation of the condo plan. For more information on the math behind the allotment, and general details on unit factors and what they mean financially, I suggest reading Fairness created by condominium “unit factor”. Another article, it would have been nice to have a week ago…

On Monday we took a look at the role online elections can play for Alberta Condo Boards.  This week we turn our attention to the condo (or strata) boards in British Columbia and how online elections can help them elect new board members in a secure and easy-to-use voting platform. With the amount of people taking up ownership of condominiums in cities such as Vancouver and Victoria, holding online elections for new board members become increasingly more valuable as boards don’t have to spend a lot of time setting up elections. Firstly though, it’s important to note how condominium boards in the province are governed.

The Strata Property Act

Condominium ownership BC is governed by the Strata Property Act. Similarly to other Province’s Condominium Acts, it provides an outline for the creation and operation of condos in British Columbia. They also provide rules and regulations on how a condo board must elect new members. For further reading, here’s a copy of the Strata Property Act.

The Strata Council

The strata council is an elected group of strata owners or tenants. It manages condo corporations on a daily basis. Depending on the strata corporation’s bylaws, the council might have 3 to 7 members. In most cases, each residential strata lot has one vote. A non-residential lot, may have more than one vote. While the Strata Property Act defines the term owner, the strata council is the board of directors of the strata corporation.

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