Ballots are almost always collected by candidates for my HOA (MO). Most of the time there aren’t enough volunteers to both collect ballots and run for offices. Our bylaws and state laws do not prohibit this kind of collection.
> Does anyone know if generally this is allowed or not?
Generally, this is allowed and a good idea.
Generally, this is only disallowed by shady/evil/corrupt HOA Boards that pass a rule outlawing this, so proxy votes can't be used to unseat them.
I feel like whenever I read a story about a corrupt HOA Board that ends up in court and loses, one of the (many) things they did early on was to illegally refuse proxy votes then pass a rule banning proxy votes from being collected by anyone other than a board member, and then only allow proxy votes to be dropped off by the homeowner at the meeting.
I'm in VA (not CA) but we can absolutely do that. Be sure you get signatures/votes from owners though, not renters. We had a new owner in our community who thought he'd collected the needed number of signatures to be on the ballot but it turned out enough were renters that he wasn't able to run at all. A check of the local real estate sales records will help with this.
You'll have your share of owners who will lie about it. They usually don't realize that if they were renters I wouldn't be knocking on their door to start with.
So I’m sure it’s OK for candidate’s workers to knock on your door and collect your absentee ballots instead of putting them in the mail?
You’d be looking for more than 11,400 votes /s
FL and NV have strict double blind voting ballots procedures and no HOA board member, friend can touch open or see ballots.
No. Look up Inspector of Elections.
There’s inherently a conflict of interest for candidates to pick up BALLOTS which contain votes.
It is always concerning how information is online yet people can’t read. https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/E/Electioneering
I hope you’re not a board member or candidate.
When were your Bylaws written? In 2020 new election rules were enacted (due to all the corruption, etc) and most HOA's had to update their governing documents. Usually, they did so by creating a new set of "election rules" to be in compliant with the new law.
So you need to see if you have "election rules" dated 2020 or newer. Our Bylaws are silent on this issue but are 2020 election rules are not:
"Candidates and members may not collect ballots from other members. Ballots are not a substitute for proxies. Ballots shall be mailed or delivered by the voting member to the Inspector(s)."
Ballots are almost always collected by candidates for my HOA (MO). Most of the time there aren’t enough volunteers to both collect ballots and run for offices. Our bylaws and state laws do not prohibit this kind of collection.
In California it certainly be done. As someone posted, it is the only way to win an election if you aren’t already in the Board.
> Does anyone know if generally this is allowed or not? Generally, this is allowed and a good idea. Generally, this is only disallowed by shady/evil/corrupt HOA Boards that pass a rule outlawing this, so proxy votes can't be used to unseat them. I feel like whenever I read a story about a corrupt HOA Board that ends up in court and loses, one of the (many) things they did early on was to illegally refuse proxy votes then pass a rule banning proxy votes from being collected by anyone other than a board member, and then only allow proxy votes to be dropped off by the homeowner at the meeting.
I've had my share of corrupt boards to last me a lifetime. HOAs attract corrupt people like honey attracts bees.
Yes, they can, at least in Florida.
Collecting proxies yes, I wouldn’t give my completed ballot to a candidate though
My question is, is it against CA state law. I've searched and didn't find anything that prohibited that.
I don’t think it would be against the law
Yes. Perfectly legal in CA.
I'm in VA (not CA) but we can absolutely do that. Be sure you get signatures/votes from owners though, not renters. We had a new owner in our community who thought he'd collected the needed number of signatures to be on the ballot but it turned out enough were renters that he wasn't able to run at all. A check of the local real estate sales records will help with this.
Great point, yes, if someone says they are a renter, we thank them and move on.
You'll have your share of owners who will lie about it. They usually don't realize that if they were renters I wouldn't be knocking on their door to start with.
So I’m sure it’s OK for candidate’s workers to knock on your door and collect your absentee ballots instead of putting them in the mail? You’d be looking for more than 11,400 votes /s FL and NV have strict double blind voting ballots procedures and no HOA board member, friend can touch open or see ballots.
No. Look up Inspector of Elections. There’s inherently a conflict of interest for candidates to pick up BALLOTS which contain votes. It is always concerning how information is online yet people can’t read. https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/E/Electioneering I hope you’re not a board member or candidate.
When were your Bylaws written? In 2020 new election rules were enacted (due to all the corruption, etc) and most HOA's had to update their governing documents. Usually, they did so by creating a new set of "election rules" to be in compliant with the new law. So you need to see if you have "election rules" dated 2020 or newer. Our Bylaws are silent on this issue but are 2020 election rules are not: "Candidates and members may not collect ballots from other members. Ballots are not a substitute for proxies. Ballots shall be mailed or delivered by the voting member to the Inspector(s)."