Electronic voting
Before your board or your members vote online, find out whether the law and your bylaws actually let you.
Electronic voting for a board or membership vote is only valid if your state statute or bylaws actually authorize it, neither Robert's Rules nor common practice makes it automatic. Where it is authorized, statutes can impose real technical safeguards, and using email to cast a vote is often treated as invalid even if directors may email about the matter.
Check the two rules before you build a ballot
"Can we vote online" is really two separate questions. First: does your state's statute say anything about electronic voting for an HOA, and if it does, is that a floor everyone must meet or a door the bylaws have to open? Second: do your own bylaws actually authorize it, or are they silent? Neither Robert's Rules of Order nor "everyone does it now" answers either question. Whether electronic voting is authorized at all, and what it takes to set up, depends on your state's statute and your governing documents. If both are silent, that is a question for legal counsel or your bylaws' amendment process, not a decision to make by defaulting to whatever platform is convenient.
California's checklist, as one worked example
California is the one state in this Course's research where the statutory checklist for an internet-based voting system has been verified word for word. It is not a light-touch permission slip, it requires the system to authenticate each member's identity, keep the ballot's secrecy and integrity in transit, permanently separate the identifying information from the vote itself, and store ballots for later recount or review. It also builds in a deadline check on the technology itself:
"a method to confirm, at least 30 days before the voting deadline, that the member's electronic device can successfully communicate with the internet-based voting system."
Source: California Civil Code Section 5110, California Legislative Information
This exact checklist is California's. A board in another state that permits electronic voting should not assume the same safeguards apply, that state's own statute controls. Treat it as a picture of how detailed this kind of rule can get, not a template to copy.
Talking about a vote isn't casting one
Directors debating a matter over email feels a lot like voting, especially when everyone types "I'm in favor." Florida's statute draws a hard line between the two:
"Members of the board of administration may use e-mail as a means of communication but may not cast a vote on an association matter via e-mail."
Source: Florida Statutes Section 720.303, Florida Legislature
This is Florida's rule specifically; whether email counts as a valid vote elsewhere depends on that state's own statute. It is also a different question from a board acting by unanimous written consent, some states let directors approve an action in writing without a meeting at all, but that is a separate, statute-defined mechanism with its own signatures and deadlines, not the same thing as informally emailing a preference back and forth.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A director emails "I vote yes" on a contract to the rest of the board. Florida's statute governs. Is this a valid board vote?
An association plans an online board election under California's statute. What must the system confirm 30 days before voting closes?
The bylaws are silent on electronic voting and the state statute does not address it either. What should the board do first?
Sources
- California Civil Code Section 5110, California Legislative Information
- Florida Statutes Section 720.303, Florida Legislature
- Rev. Code Wash. Section 24.03A.570, Washington State Legislature
Technology
Next, see how written consent lets a board act without a meeting at all, on its own, different terms.
Whether electronic voting is authorized at all, what technical safeguards it requires, and whether email counts as casting a vote all vary by state and by your bylaws.