Association resources in elections
Who gets to use the newsletter, the website, and the clubhouse during a campaign, and who doesn't.
If an association allows any candidate to use its newsletter, website, or meeting room during a campaign, California law requires it to give that same access to every candidate and every member advocating a position, including ones the board does not endorse, at no cost, without editing what they say.
The rule follows the opportunity, not the message
A board does not have to open its newsletter or website to campaign content at all. But once it lets one candidate use that channel, it cannot then pick and choose who else gets the same access. In California, the standard is explicit: equal access applies to every candidate and every member advocating a point of view, whether or not the board agrees with them.
"Equal access shall be provided to all candidates and members advocating a point of view, including those not endorsed by the board."
Source: California Civil Code, Section 5105, California Legislative Information
The association can add a disclaimer stating the candidate or member, not the association, is responsible for their own content. What it cannot do is edit, redact, or leave out a submission because it disagrees with what it says.
The same principle covers the clubhouse, not just the website
Meeting space works the same way. If the association has a clubhouse, community room, or similar common area, it cannot rent that space to one candidate's event while charging or denying another. Under California's statute, access to common area meeting space during a campaign must be free and equal for every candidate and every member advocating a position.
"Access to the common area meeting space, if any exists, during a campaign, at no cost, to all candidates."
Source: California Civil Code, Section 5105, California Legislative Information
This does not require the association to build meeting space it doesn't have. It only kicks in where a common area meeting space already exists.
Where this rule comes from, and where it doesn't reach
This equal-access requirement is written into California's election statute, one of a handful of states with a detailed common-interest-development election law on the books. Whether a similar rule exists in your state depends on whether your state has enacted anything comparable, and if it has not, the question shifts to your own bylaws and operating rules instead of a statute.
Before your board decides to feature one candidate's statement and not another's, or to charge one candidate for room use and not another, find out which layer of the governing hierarchy actually answers that question where you sit: state statute, general nonprofit law, or your own governing documents.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A board posts campaign statements from its endorsed candidates on the HOA website but declines to post a statement from a challenger who criticizes the board. Under California's rule, is this allowed?
The clubhouse is normally rented for a fee. During campaign season, a candidate asks to use it for a meet-the-neighbors event. What does California law require?
A member who is not running for the board wants to post a statement urging owners to vote against a bylaw amendment on the ballot. Does California's equal-access rule cover that request?
Sources
- California Civil Code, Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, Section 5105, California Legislative Information
Elections
Next, see how these access rules connect to the notice your association has to send before ballots go out.
Equal access to campaign communication and common area meeting space is guaranteed by statute in California; other states may leave this to the association's bylaws or say nothing about it at all. Check whether your state has a comparable rule and what your own governing documents require.