Election notices
Know what your election notice has to say, and why the deadline that applies to you might not be a statute at all.
An election notice tells members that a vote is coming, gives the deadline to vote, and explains how to cast a ballot. States that regulate this closely, like California, set a minimum number of days between notice and the voting deadline; many states leave the timeline entirely to your bylaws. Check both before assuming a number.
What the notice has to cover
A notice that just says an election is coming doesn't do its job. At minimum, members need to know the deadline for casting a vote, how to return a ballot, whether electronic voting is available, and, if there's a meeting tied to the election, when and where it happens. Where a state regulates this closely, the statute spells out that list. Where it doesn't, your bylaws are the only place this gets written down, so check them before drafting a notice from scratch.
How much lead time members are owed
How far ahead of the vote a notice has to go out is one of the figures that varies most by state; check your own state's statute and your bylaws before setting a date. California ties the notice period to the ballot mailing itself:
"Ballots and two preaddressed envelopes with instructions on how to return ballots shall be mailed by first-class mail or delivered by the association to every member not less than 30 days prior to the deadline for voting."
Source: California Civil Code, Davis-Stirling Act, §5115, California Legislative Information
Nevada regulates a different piece of the timeline: it sets a minimum return window once ballots go out, rather than a mail-out deadline before the vote. Neither number applies in a state that hasn't enacted a similar rule. If your state has no statute on point, whatever your bylaws say is the deadline, and if they're silent too, that's a gap your board should close in writing before the next election, not during it.
Statute or bylaws: find out which one is actually in charge
Not every state legislates the notice process at all. Florida's election statute takes the opposite approach from California's: it hands the mechanics to the association itself.
"Elections of directors must be conducted in accordance with the procedures set forth in the governing documents of the association."
Source: Florida Statutes §720.306, The Florida Senate
That means two boards can both be following the law with completely different notice timelines, because the law itself is pointing at two different rulebooks. Before you set a notice date, find out whether your state statute prescribes one. If it doesn't, your CC&Rs and bylaws are where the actual deadline lives.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A California board plans to mail director-election ballots just 10 days before the voting deadline to save on printing costs. What's wrong with that plan?
A Nevada association mails ballots and gives owners only 10 days to send them back before the count. What's the problem?
A Florida homeowner asks why their state's statute doesn't spell out a notice deadline for board elections the way California's does. What's the accurate answer?
- California Civil Code, Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, Article 4, Member Elections, California Legislative Information
- Florida Statutes, Section 720.306 (2024), The Florida Senate
- Nevada Revised Statutes, Section 116.31034, Nevada Legislature
Elections
Next, see how the ballot itself has to be built to keep a vote secret once it's cast.
Notice periods, what a notice must include, and how ballots may be returned (mail, electronic, or both) vary by state statute and by your own bylaws.