SLohA must follow Official Election Laws

SLohA has been ignoring its own governing documents i.e. Bylaws, Covenants for a long, long time.  Bylaws have not only been ignored, they have actually been modified or deleted without benefit of Owner ratification.  But that's another story.

SLohA must follow its governing law with regard to elections; this is one of ONLY TWO disputes that the FL's Business Division  will directly arbitrate.  There is no question in my mind that, if SLohA elections--as they are currently being conducted--were to be disputed (cost $200)--they would be overturned by the Division and SLohA would be ordered to repeat the election according to the Pinkbook.  Attorney-assisted formal dispute is likely this year if SLohA tries to shove unauthorized amendments down owners' throats again (reference last year's ballot).

Here's a general rundown of how the process should proceed.

All Ballots and Proxies must be IN the Ballot Box by Noon the Day Before the Meeting--that would be the 2nd Friday in February since the Member meeting is designated as the 2nd Saturday in February.

Envelopes must remain UNOPENED IN THE BALLOT BOX until Election Day.   Here's a novel idea:  If the Box is too sm all--MAKE A BIGGER ONE!  (Or convert your Feral Office CatHouse into a Ballot Collection Box!)  You could even start this...now!

1. Election Committee Chairman calls for Election Committee to meet at 8am on ELECTION DAY.  Doors closed to owners until later in the afternoon.

2. Election Committee starts opening envelopes and validating Ballots/Proxies with Certification cards.  (If there is prior organization and preparation in the office i.e. a complete, up-to-date Owner Roster with Certified Voter designate, this can be dispatched with ease.)

3. Following Voter validation, Election Committee tallies votes of valid ballots.  (The compilation of votes only required about 3 hours when I served on the Election Committee in 2011; this was because they had previously been certified in the office--NOT LEGAL!)

4. Election Committee certifies vote counts for election of directors and each item of business

5. When process complete, Phonevite "The Annual Meeting and results of the vote will be convene in the Clubhouse at 4pm."

6. At the Member Meeting, "someone who knows what they are doing" interprets the pass/fail of each ballot item according to the Bylaw voting thresholds, results are announced and recorded in the Minutes. (Typically, this might be the CAM but will have to be oversighted--reference last year's fiasco when the results that were announced in error!)

7. Additional Member business is brought to the floor and business can be conducted IF there is a quorum-51% of voting members present.   (Except you cannot recall newly-elected directors).

8. Announce immediate meeting of newly-elected Board of Directors

9. Return the converted CatHouse/Ballot Box back to the feral cats

Actually, there are many more details to comply with the Bylaws but this is a rough outline (except for the Phonevite and returning the Feral Cathouse to the cats).

Following this process might restore the confidence which has been lost in the past "system" which S-bag seems prone to "making it up as you go".  This is no longer acceptable and will not be tolerated.  Suspicious results will be cH allenged with a recount and subsequent petition to the Division.

The lack of integrity in voting is particularly troublesome now, as last year a non-election committee member was witnessed unlocking the ballot box with several visitors present in the office.  The purpose was reportedly to "show" how deep the interior of the box was!  Add to that the general head-scratching after the tallying of the votes last year--AND the premature false announcement of the outcome--and owner confidence in the "system" and the practitioners' competence in safeguarding and understanding the process has been badly shaken.  There is ample reason to suspect vote tampering.

Our "leaders" promised last year to "look into" electronic ballotting and characteristically, the "looking into" process was dropped, abandoned, forgotten about--who knows?  These kinds of things are NEVER carried forward as agenda old business and then owners are left wondering "what happened to electronic ballotting?"

NOW in Election 2015, is a good place to begin repair of one important broken promise in S-bag--lawful elections.   Adhere to our governing law this year.  Restore voter confidence.  Maybe the newly-elected or recalled board will "look into" electronic ballotting for 2016 and actually DO something to support owners--something other than whine and waste time "looking into" having police come in to patrol the park as extensions of the MANBOD bully stick.