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Chinquapin Homeowners Association
AMENDED AND RESTATED ELECTION RULES
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 Amended By-Laws of Chinquapin Homeowners
Association (hereinafter “By-Laws”), at Article III (Meetings of Members), and
Article IV (Directors).
These Rules are intended to clarify and supplement the By-Laws and the
statutory provisions and address other matters that are required by statute. In
the event of any conflict between these Rules or the By-Laws 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. Pursuant to the 2007 By-Law amendments, 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. Pursuant to the 2007 By-Law amendments, 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.
Election Campaigning
- 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.
Member Voting
- 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. Pursuant to the 2007 By-Law amendments, the use of
proxies as originally allowed at Article III, section 12 of the By-Laws 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. By-laws, Article IV, section 3. 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.
Election Inspectors
- 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.
General Provisions
- 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.
Certificate of Secretary
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 29th, 2010
Dick Maser, Secretary
Chinquapin Homeowners Association
"Keeping Chinquapin Homeowners Informed"
URL: http://chinquapinhoa.com/election_rules_procedures.htm
Last modified:
07/29/10
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