Failed quorum

No quorum means almost nothing can happen

Quorum is the minimum number of voting owners, present in person, by proxy, or by ballot depending on your rules, who must be there before your meeting can legally act. Fall short of that number and Robert's Rules treats the meeting as unable to do business at all.

"The only action that can legally be taken in the absence of a quorum is to fix the time to which to adjourn, adjourn, recess, or take measures to obtain a quorum."

Source: Can a Quorumless Meeting Set Time for an Adjourned Meeting, Paul McClintock, CP-T

One wrinkle worth knowing: if a quorum was present when the meeting opened but owners have since left, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised's own FAQ holds that the quorum is presumed to continue until the chair or another member points out that it is gone. Nobody has to recount heads after every motion.

Adjourn to try again, not adjourn for good

A motion to adjourn "to meet again" keeps the same meeting alive for a later date, it is a continuation, not a new meeting. That matters because unfinished business, including an unfinished vote, picks up where it left off instead of starting over.

"Mr. President, I move to adjourn to meet again tomorrow at 8 a.m."

Source: Robert's Rules for Adjourning a Meeting, Dummies.com, C. Alan Jennings, PRP

That is different from a motion to adjourn sine die, which ends the assembly's business entirely rather than pausing it. If the board wants a second attempt, it needs the first kind, not the second.

Whether the second attempt gets an easier quorum varies by state

Some states lower the quorum bar for a reconvened meeting; others do not. California, for example, lets an association reconvene a director election that missed quorum, with its own required notice and a reduced threshold.

"the quorum of the membership to elect directors will be 20 percent of the association's members, voting in person, by proxy, or by secret ballot"

Source: California Civil Code section 5115, California Legislature

Florida's statute, by contrast, spells out how to announce a new date and time for an adjourned meeting but does not lower its own quorum number for that reconvened date. Do not assume your state works like either one, check your bylaws and your own state's statute before you promise owners a lower bar next time.

An unfinished election carries over, it does not restart

If quorum collapses partway through a director election, the seats that were not yet filled roll forward to the next meeting where the group can finish the job. Nominations already made and votes already cast are not thrown out.

"If you expect that you're not going to finish your work, you need to provide for an adjourned meeting in which to conclude your election."

Source: Robert's Rules: Dealing with Incomplete Elections, Dummies.com, C. Alan Jennings, PRP