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business day before the mail-
ing of the notice of the election
meeting;
4. The association must send a
notice of the election meeting
not less than 14 nor more than
60 days prior to the meeting at
which the election will be held
(note that this differs from the
most common bylaws provision
that states that notice must be
sent not less than 10 nor more
than 90 days prior to the elec-
tion meeting);
5. Associations may use paper
ballots or electronic ballots
and may send notice by mail,
personal delivery or electron-
ic notice, but in the case of
electronic notice of a meeting,
it may be utilized only where
the governing documents per-
mit electronic notice and the
owner must have consented to
receiving electronic notice. But
the bylaws need not authorize
electronic voting in order for the
association to implement it;
6. All unit owners who are current
in the payment of all valid
charges due the association
may vote in the election (note
that in connection with nomina-
tion and voting, good standing
may not include being in com-
pliance with the restrictions,
rules and regulations);
7. The counting of ballots
must be in accordance
with the terms of the
Nonprofit Corporations
Act, which requires the appoint-
ment of judges of the election
who must then issue a report
containing the results, as well
as how many votes were dis-
qualified and why they were
disqualified.
EXCEPTIONS
Certain exceptions to the above
requirements apply. First, there is a
limited exception for associations hav-
ing less than 50 units. Those asso-
ciations need only have an election
procedure that provides notice of the
election meeting; notifies members of
the right to nominate anyone in good
standing; provides the owners with
the ability to review established board
member qualifications; and provides
a method for counting ballots and ver-
ifying an owner’s qualification to vote.
However, these associations are not
required to meet the specific timing
requirements set forth in the legislation
and may have board qualification
requirements that exceed what is per-
mitted by the Act.
In addition, the following associa-
tions or particular types of elections
are exempt from all or a portion of the
requirements of the Act:
A. Where an association’s govern-
ing documents provide for certain
board positions to be occupied
by a person living in a specific
section of the community, only the
owners in that section may nomi-
nate themselves or another owner
ELECTION...
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CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 24
from the section and all owners are
not authorized to run for all board
seats;
B. Where certain seats are reserved
to affordable housing owners who
own a minority of units in the com-
munity, the governing documents
may limit certain board seats to
owners of affordable housing units;
C. If the members on a master or
umbrella association board are
made up of elected members of
section association boards, the
master or umbrella association is
not subject to any requirements of
the Act related to board elections;
and
D. In mixed-use developments, cer-
tain seats may be designated for
specific unit types, such as a seat
reserved for owners of commercial
units.
Despite the section of the Act allow-
ing any owner to run for any seat,
other than those excepted above, it
is permissible to have a provision in
the bylaws that prohibits more than
one owner of a unit or more than one
representative of an entity-owner from
serving on the board simultaneously.
The Act further validates bylaws
provisions that permit board members
to appoint a person to the board if
a vacancy occurs by resignation,
death, failure to maintain reasonable
qualifications or removal by owner
vote. Any other vacancy, such as by
expansion of the number of board
members – which some bylaws per-
mit – must be filled by a vote of the
owners despite any bylaws provision
that may permit the board to fill those
expanded seats.
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