|
| |
Chinquapin Homeowners Association
AMENDED AND RESTATED ELECTION RULES
CHOA Amended and Restated Election Rules -
Revised December 16, 2010.
The only revisions were to delete references to the First Amended Bylaws
after the Second Amended
and Restated Bylaws were adopted on September 29, 2010
[ Annual Meeting Procedures,
Election Campaigning, Candidate
Qualifications and Nominations, Member Voting,
Written Ballots/Proxies,
Election Inspectors, General Provisions,
Certificate of Secretary ]
Pursuant to California Civil Code section 1363.03(a), the Association adopts
the following Amended and Restated Election Rules that govern election
procedures and related issues. All elections shall be conducted under the
‘double envelope secret ballot system’ and related procedures set forth at Civil
Code section 1363.03 and 1363.04.
The Chinquapin Governing Documents that deal specifically with election
procedures are primarily found in the Second Amended and Restated Bylaws of
Chinquapin Homeowners Association, adopted September 29, 2010 (hereinafter
“Bylaws”), at Article V (Membership Meetings and Election of Directors) and
Article VII (Board of Directors).
These Rules are intended to clarify and supplement the Bylaws and the statutory
provisions and address other matters that are required by statute. In the event
of any conflict between these Rules or the Bylaws and the provisions of Cal.
Civil Code sections 1363.03 and 1363.04, the provisions of those statutes, and
any revisions thereto, shall control.
Annual Meeting Procedures
- Quorum. The quorum for any vote or election by the members shall be a
majority of the total voting power of the Association (87 Units). The vote of
the members holding a majority of a quorum of the members present in person or
by written ballot shall be effective for action to be taken by the membership.
- All written ballots that are timely returned count towards a quorum for all
items that are included on the written ballots. If a quorum can only be obtained
by counting the written ballots that are returned, plus members that are in
attendance in person or by proxy, then a quorum is deemed to be present only as
to those matters that were included in the written ballots.
- Ballot Counting Meeting. The meeting for the Ballot Counting/Election of
Directors shall be the Saturday preceding the Annual Meeting at 4:00 p.m. at the
Dollar House. That meeting shall be for the purpose of opening, counting, and
tabulating the ballots for the annual election of Directors and any other
matters being voted on by the members. No business other than tabulation of the
ballots by the Election Inspector shall be conducted and there shall be no
quorum requirement for any such meeting of the members. All members may attend
the meeting and witness the opening of the ballots by the Election Inspector.
- If any candidate or member advocating a point of view is provided access to
association media, newsletters, or Internet Web sites during a campaign, for
purposes that are reasonably related to that election, equal access shall be
provided to all candidates and members advocating a point of view, including
those not endorsed by the Board, for purposes that are reasonably related to the
election. The Association shall not edit or redact any content from these
communications, but may include a statement specifying that the candidate or
member, and not the Association, is responsible for that content.
- All candidates, including those who are not incumbents or endorsed by the
Board, and all members advocating a point of view, including those not endorsed
by the Board, shall have access to common area meeting space, if any, during a
campaign, at no cost, for purposes reasonably related to the election.
- Association funds shall not be used for campaign purposes in connection with
any Association Board election. See Cal. Civil Code section 1363.04.
Candidate Qualifications and Nominations
- All Director candidates must be members of the Association, current in the
payment of all financial obligations, and not subject to suspension of
membership privileges as a result of any disciplinary action that has been
initiated by the Association.
- Nomination of Candidates for Election to the Board of Directors:
(a) Nomination Procedures. Nominations of candidates for election to the Board
of Directors may be made by a Nominating Committee or by self-nomination. The
Board may appoint a Nominating Committee prior to any election of Directors. If
appointed, on or before the deadline for nominations, the Nominating Committee
shall nominate as many candidates for election to the Board as it shall in its
discretion determine, but not less than the number of positions on the Board
that are to be filled in the election. All nominations shall be made from among
members who satisfy the qualifications set forth in these Election Rules. Any
member who satisfies the qualifications set forth in the Election Rules may
place his or her name in nomination for election to the Board by giving written
notice to the President or Secretary of the Association. Notice of
self-nomination must be received prior to the deadline for nominations.
(b) Deadline for Nominations. The deadline for nominations shall be set by the
Board and shall not be less than fifteen (15) and not more than sixty (60) days
prior to the date for mailing ballots to the members for the election of
Directors.
(c) Publication of Deadline for Nominations. The date and time of the deadline
for nominations shall be published at least thirty (30) days in advance of the
deadline on the Association website at www.chinquapinhoa.com, or such subsequent
address that may be provided to the members, and in one or more of the following
manners: (i) by posting a notice in one or more prominent places within the
project, (ii) by mailing or electronic delivery of a notice to the billing
address of each unit, or such other address which a member has requested that
notices be sent or, (iii) by other means reasonably designed to provide actual
notice to the members.
- Members must be in good standing to be eligible to vote, which generally
means all assessment obligations are paid current, and there are no disciplinary
actions duly imposed by the Association by which voting privileges have been
suspended. Membership voting rights are appurtenant to the ownership of a
particular unit. If a member is delinquent in the payment of assessments as to
any particular unit owned, that member, or all members where there are multiple
owners of a unit, can be denied voting rights as to the unit where the
assessment obligations are delinquent.
- Each member of the Association in good standing is entitled to cast one vote
for each unit that the member owns. When more than one person or entity owns a
unit, all such co-owners must agree among themselves and are entitled to one
vote per unit. No vote for a unit shall be cast on a fractional basis. If the
co-owners of a unit are unable to agree among themselves as to how their vote
shall be cast, they shall forfeit the vote on the matter in question.
Written Ballots/Proxies
- Because state law requires the Association to utilize a ‘double envelope
secret ballot’ system for all member elections, any ballots that are sent to the
Election Inspector by facsimile transmission or email will not be counted. The
use of proxies is expressly prohibited in connection with membership meetings
and membership votes.
- The Board shall set the date of the election and advise the members of the
deadline for returning ballots to the Election Inspector. The members must be
given at least thirty (30) days before the deadline to cast their votes. The
Board may extend the date for returning written ballots for no more than two
successive periods of thirty days each. If the Board does extend the voting
period, members will be given written notice of such extension(s) and no secret
ballots shall be opened until the last extended date for the election set by the
Board.
- The Directors candidates receiving the highest number of votes, up to the
number of vacancies to be filled in the election, shall be elected as Directors
and shall take office at the Annual Meeting that follows the Meeting for
Election of Directors that is held on the Saturday preceding each Annual Member
Meeting. In the event there is a tie vote between those candidates who receive
the lowest number of votes necessary to qualify the candidate for election, a
runoff election pursuant to these Rules shall be held thereafter as soon as
reasonably practicable, but not later than sixty (60) days after the ballots
were opened.
- Pursuant to Cal. Civil Code section 1363.03(c), the Board, in its
discretion, may appoint one (1) or three (3) Election Inspectors. The Election
Inspector shall be appointed by the Board at least ten (10) days prior to any
such election.
- Election Inspectors must be an “independent third party.” An “independent
third party” includes, but is not limited to, a volunteer poll worker with the
county registrar of voters, a licensee of the California Board of Accountancy,
or a notary public. An independent third party may also be a member of the
Association, but may not be a member of the Board of Directors or a candidate
for the Board of Directors or related to a member of the Board of Directors or a
candidate for the Board of Directors. The law allows the appointment of Election
Inspectors that are employed by or under contract with the Association for
compensable services, if these Rules specifically allow that. Therefore, an
Election Inspector may also be a person who is currently employed or under
contract with the Association for compensable services, including but not
limited to an individual property manager, or a principal or supervisory
employee of a management company, bookkeeper, or certified public accountant.
- Once appointed, the Election Inspector or Inspectors may, in their
discretion, appoint and oversee additional persons to verify signatures and to
count and tabulate votes, so long as such persons also qualify as “independent
third parties” as defined above.
- These Rules shall be construed to conform to any legislative changes or
revisions to Civil Code section 1363.03 and 1363.04 without any further
amendment or adoption procedures. These Rules may be amended by a majority vote
of the Board of Directors, in compliance with the notice to member and other
requirements of Civil Code section 1357.100 et. seq.
The undersigned Secretary of the Chinquapin Homeowners Association, a California
nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, hereby certifies that the foregoing
Election Rules were duly approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the
Board of Directors present at the Board Meeting held on May 29, 2010 that a
quorum was present at such meeting, and that such approval was made in
compliance with the member notice and other requirements of Civil Code section
1357.100 et. seq.
Dated: May 29, 2010
Dick Maser, Secretary
Chinquapin Homeowners Association
"Keeping Chinquapin Homeowners Informed"
URL: http://chinquapinhoa.com/election_rules_procedures.htm
Last modified:
02/17/11
|
