Campaigning
What a board can and cannot do while members run for the board
Where a state regulates it, a board that lets any candidate use association channels, a newsletter, a website, or common area meeting space, must give every candidate and advocate the same access, free, without editing their content. Most states set no such rule by statute, so check your governing documents and state law first.
Equal access, where it applies
Some states require a board to treat every candidate the same once it opens its own channels to campaigning. California's election statute is the clearest example researched for this lesson: if the association lets any candidate or any member advocating a point of view use its newsletter, website, or other media during a campaign, it must let all of them use it, on the same terms, whether or not the board endorses 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 §5105, California Legislative Information
The board cannot edit or redact what a candidate submits, though it may attach a disclaimer stating that the candidate, not the association, is responsible for the content. The same statute extends the same free, equal-access rule to common-area meeting space used for campaign purposes.
Whether this applies to your association
Whether your state requires equal campaign access to association channels and meeting space at all, and exactly what "equal" means in practice, varies by state; confirm with your state's common-interest-development statute or, if it has none, with your bylaws and board policy. Most states researched for this Course have no comparably detailed statute on campaigning. Where no statute applies, the decision defaults to whatever your governing documents say, and if they are silent, to a policy the board should adopt before a campaign starts, not during one.
What campaigning rules don't cover
None of the sources behind this Course address what a candidate may legally say about an opponent, or what liability a false statement during a campaign might create. If a candidate or a director asks that question, the honest answer is that this page cannot settle it. Send them to the association's attorney.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A board runs a full newsletter feature on the candidate it endorses. An unendorsed candidate asks for the same space. What must the board do, under a statute like California's equal-access rule?
The endorsed candidate holds a free meet-and-greet in the clubhouse. A second candidate asks to use the same room for her own event. What does an equal-access rule like California's require?
A candidate asks the board whether an opponent's flyer could expose them to a defamation claim. What should the board tell them?
Sources
- California Civil Code, Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, §5105, California Legislative Information
Elections
Next, see how these same access rules interact with the notice your association owes members before ballots go out.
Whether your state requires equal access to campaign communications and meeting space, and what a candidate may legally say about an opponent, both depend on your state's law and your own governing documents; this lesson does not resolve either for you.