Academy/Membership & Annual Meetings
Proxies
Who can vote for someone else at your HOA meeting, and what actually makes it legal.
A proxy is a signed, written authorization letting one member cast another member's vote at a meeting. State law and your association's bylaws create and shape proxy rights, not parliamentary procedure. Robert's Rules does not permit proxy voting by default; check your bylaws and state statute before assuming you have one.
What actually makes a proxy valid
A proxy is a written, signed authorization: it has to exist in some fixed form, and it has to be signed by the member handing over their vote. It is not a verbal "go ahead and vote for me."
"a written authorization signed by a member or the authorized representative of the member that gives another member or members the power to vote on behalf of that member."
Source: California Civil Code § 5130, California Legislature
A proxy is also not a stand in for a secret ballot. California's statute says so directly: "Proxies shall not be construed or used in lieu of a ballot." Whether your state draws this same line, and what your proxy form must include, is set by your own state's statute and your bylaws.
Naming Robert's Rules does not create a right to a proxy
Boards often assume that adopting Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised as their parliamentary authority settles the proxy question. It does the opposite.
"Proxy voting is not permitted in ordinary deliberative assemblies unless federal, state, or other laws applicable to the society require it, or the bylaws of the organization authorize it, since proxy voting is incompatible with the essential characteristics of a deliberative assembly."
Source: Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, Official FAQ, Robert's Rules Association
And even where a proxy is authorized, Robert's Rules supplies no procedure for it. Its scope, how long it lasts, and how it gets revoked all come from whichever law or bylaw created it in the first place, never from the parliamentary authority itself.
Revoking or losing a proxy
One widely adopted model act (not a national rule; check whether your state follows this pattern) sets out a default for revocation and expiration:
"A unit owner may revoke a proxy given pursuant to this section only by actual notice of revocation to the person presiding over a meeting."
Source: Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act § 3 110, as enacted at W. Va. Code § 36B-3-110, West Virginia Legislature
The same model act voids any proxy that is not dated, and lets a proxy run for up to one year after its date unless it states a shorter term itself. Neither number is universal. Confirm your own state's proxy statute and what your bylaws say before telling a member their proxy is, or is not, still good.
A proxy is not a power of attorney
The two terms get used interchangeably at the podium, and that is where a lot of confusion starts.
"The word proxy has two meanings. One meaning is the power of attorney given to another person to act in one's stead."
Source: Proxy Voting (Homeowners Association), Parli.com
In practice, most state HOA statutes regulate a proxy specifically as a meeting voting instrument, while a general power of attorney is a separate legal document governed by different law entirely. Whether a power of attorney can be used to cast an HOA vote is unsettled and varies by state; see Powers of attorney before treating the two as interchangeable.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
Your bylaws name Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised as your parliamentary authority. A member asks why the association will not accept a proxy vote. What is the most accurate answer?
A member mails in a signed proxy, then changes their mind and wants to vote in person instead. Under the common model act default, how must they revoke it?
A board member finds a signed proxy in the files with no date written on it. Under the common model act default, what is true about that proxy?
Sources
- Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, Official FAQ, Robert's Rules Association
- Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act § 3 110, as enacted at W. Va. Code § 36B-3-110, West Virginia Legislature
- California Civil Code § 5130, California Legislature
- Proxy Voting (Homeowners Association), Parli.com
Related elsewhere in the Academy
Membership & Annual Meetings
Next, see how your association turns a signed vote, proxy or otherwise, into a counted, certified result: read Ballots.
Whether proxy voting is allowed at all, who may hold one, how long it lasts, and how it gets revoked are all set by your state's statute and your own bylaws, not by one nationwide rule.