“Is Electronic Voting Right for Your Community?” – FLCAJ
The 2015 legislative session introduced electronic voting for condominiums, cooperatives, and homeowners’ associations. Then, in the spring of 2016, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) adopted administrative regulations to implement the new electronic voting statutes for community associations. However, now, more than ten years later, associations are still skeptical about whether or not electronic voting is a viable option for their community.
One of the biggest drawbacks of electronic voting is the potential for tampering. We live in a very technologically advanced time, where technology touches every aspect of our lives. This has made computer viruses and malware a real threat to all aspects of life. Therefore, it is not too farfetched to believe that hackers could exploit a security weakness in a community association online voting system. Owners see the wide-scale technological pitfalls in their day-to-day lives. It is no surprise that they would be skeptical about using online voting for their community association, thus making e-voting a challenge to implement in community elections as each owner must consent to participate in e-voting.
This leads to a second drawback of electronic voting, which is a lack of trust in an electronic voting system. When members attend a community meeting with in-person voting, they get to physically inspect the counting of votes. Also, the ballots are available for the members to review at a records inspection for the next year. However, with electronic voting, homeowners may worry about what happens to their vote after clicking a button. How can they know it really gets counted? The electronic voting system requires anonymity, which means owners can never verify the votes cast electronically. They are required to trust the voting system selected by the association. That blind trust is not easy to come by.
One final drawback of electronic voting is the barriers to access. While the younger generations are quite tech savvy and understand the ins and out of technology, there are still several generations of owners who are not as tech savvy or have problems accessing the internet. For example, older residents in retirement communities may not be familiar with online voting methods.
That said, despite these drawbacks, there are many benefits to electronic voting that an association should also consider. First, electronic voting offers a more convenient platform for owners to participate in association affairs. Most homeowners are busy with their lives and families and find it difficult to make time to attend community meetings. Therefore, an online voting platform makes it easier for people to vote on community-related matters. Every person with access to a smartphone or computer can easily cast a ballot with a few clicks. This eliminates the need to personally attend meetings or complete and submit proxies.
This convenient method of voting therefore allows for wider participation of members in community affairs. Most voting platforms are willing to provide support for associations by educating members on how their electronic platform works, including free support for members to assist them with casting their votes online. Therefore, once members have an opportunity to get familiar with online voting it will enable associations to receive more participation from its members in community affairs.
Finally, a reputable electronic voting system enables seamless, fast, and accurate vote counting. Electronic voting eliminates the headaches of counting paper ballots. For example, no one has to discern voter intention on a poorly marked vote. Plus, results are much faster with computer tabulations.
A community is strengthened by the participation of its members in the affairs of the association. Therefore, in spite of the potential drawbacks, a community will be well served by the added participation that electronic voting can bring.
Florence King, Attorney at Law, Becker
Florence King concentrates her practice on the representation of condominium, homeowner, and cooperative associations in the state of Florida. Her experience includes handling collections and foreclosures, vendor contracts, drafting and amending governing documents and enforcing association covenants, assisting associations with management issues and other association-related matters. Ms. King is also a licensed mediator and a community association manager. A member of the Florida Bar since 2006, she is also licensed to practice in all three U.S. Districts in the state of Florida. For more information, please visit beckerlawyers.com.
