What WA State Community Association Laws Say About Proxies & Voting: HPRA
Horizontal Property Regimes Act
WUCIOA, the WCA and the HOA Act recognize a member’s authority to submit votes via proxy: HOA Act WCA WUCIOA
NONPROFIT LAWS:
the WCA, the HPRA or the HOA Act 24.03) or the Miscellaneous and Mutual Corporations Act (RCW 24.06) (referred
submit that proxy by “electronic WCA and HOA Act allow members to submit votes via proxy and the proxies to be submitted electronically.
Facilitating Electronic Voting
As a lawyer, I tend to focus on how changes to existing law might facilitate electronic voting. Updated laws may help but, as stated earlier, technology
Homeowners’ Association Act RCW 64.38.035, RCW 64.38.040
Washington Condominium Act RCW 64.34.340
Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act RCW 64.90-455
WUCIOA, the WCA and
Associations subject to WUCIOA, the WCA, the HPRA or the HOA Act are incorporated and subject to the or the Miscellaneous and Mutual Corporations Act RCW 24.06.110, RCW 24.03.085.
tends to move faster than the legal process and this is no exception. sparked after discussing the platform developed by a new WSCAI Business Partner member.
Their particular platform allows owners, using their smartphone, to execute a directed proxy that is electronically transmitted to the Association in a form that can be saved and printed out if needed. The proxies are recorded and votes are calculated including the application of allocated interest. Given that our state statutes allow owners to vote via proxy in lieu of attending a meeting, this seemed like a promising
Other Considerations
As is always the case, associations that want to pursue electronic voting also
need to consider the application of their current governing documents. There may be additional steps they need to take before implanting electronic voting. Including amendments to their governing documents. For example, Corporations Act related to voting only
The exciting news is that options do exist. If your community is struggling with low participation rates, electronic voting is a legitimate option to explore.
Check with your association management professionals on how they can help support electronic voting and always double check with your legal counsel to make sure your members electronic votes are legitimate and counted.
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