Proposed changes to POA bylaws and new election procedures

The POA staff suggested the following changes to the bylaws allowing the counting of ballots for the POA board of directors election by POA staff. This will save the $7,500 outside expense of an independent auditing firm to perform the count. But, it takes away the unbiased certification process.
Once bylaws are approved, the board will need to appoint an ad hoc election day committee consisting of not less than14 members to provide oversight to conduct this election count.
The POA staff advised the board of the internal procedures of the new election count process using POA staff.
The staff performed the election count for many years prior to hiring an outside firm to do the official count.
ARTICLE VIII
Board of Directors: Election Process
The election of the Board of Directors shall be as follows:
Section 1. Election of Board of Directors shall be by written ballot as hereinafter provided. At such election the Property Owners’ Association members may cast one vote per position to be filled.
Section 2. The election to the Board of Directors shall be conducted in accordance with established procedures. established by the Board of Directors.
Section 3. Any member of the Property Owners Association in good standing and not an employee of the Association may be certified for candidacy for the Board of Directors election ballot.
Application for placement on the election ballot shall be made in the following manner:
The applicant shall correctly complete, sign and submit the official application for candidacy and petition to the office of the General Manager. The General Manager who, along with a designated Board member, will certify that the applicant is a member in good standing and has properly filed an application, and will so notify the Board of Directors.
Section 4. Voting for the Board of Directors shall be on a printed ballot which shall (l) designate the number of vacancies to be filled; (2) set forth the names of candidates for such vacancies. with spaces opposite each name with the word "For".
The order of appearance of the candidates names on the ballot shall be in random order with each candidate’s name appearing first on the ballot an equal number of times.
One ballot per lot or living unit shall be prepared, each containing a consecutive number, and mailed by the Secretary of the Association to all members of the Association in good standing, at least fourteen (14) days in advance of the date designated by the Board of Directors as the date for the election. All ballots returned that contain the same number will be automatically voided.
The term of office of a Director shall be for three (3) years or until a successor shall have been elected and certified by the Board of Directors; the term shall commence immediately following the regular April Board meeting; and the term shall expire upon the adjournment of the regular April Board meeting three (3) years after election unless a successor has not been elected and certified by the Board of Directors. In such event the Director shall continue to serve until a successor is elected and certified.
If a vacancy occurs on the Board of Directors for any reason, the Board shall appoint a successor Director to serve an interim term being the time until the next election and certification date.
Section 5. Each ballot returned shall be counted by the POA staff and stored mailed directly to an independent firm to be counted and stored by the independent firm in a safe and secure place. An ad hoc Election Day Committee, composed of members in good standing recruited and selected under the general provisions for standing committee selections, shall be appointed by the Board of Directors at its March regular meeting. The ad hoc Election Day Committee shall oversee the opening, counting and tally of ballots on the date of the election. The Board of Directors shall designate a date as the date of the election. The candidates receiving the greater number of votes shall be elected to fill the number of positions vacant. In an election where there are positions open with varying lengths of terms, and there are more candidates than open positions, the candidate(s) receiving the highest number of votes will receive the longer term(s) in successive order as determined by the election ballot procedure. The results of the election will be submitted to the General Manager independent firm who will notify the current Board of Directors, all Board of Directors candidates and issue a press release on the results shall release the election results on the designated election date. The Board of Directors shall certify those so elected and the terms at its April regular meeting.
Section 6. Regardless of the above provisions, if the time set by the Association for the filing of applications expires and the number of vacancies on the Board of Directors to be filled at any election and the number of certified candidates for those positions are the same or less, the Association shall not be required to follow the election procedure outlined in Sections 4 and 5 above. Rather, for reasons of economy, the Board of Directors shall declare the candidates elected as officially as if elected by the ballot procedure, and they shall take and hold office accordingly.
If the length of the terms of the positions being filled are not equal, and/or there is a need for an incumbent Board member to continue in office until a successor shall have been elected and certified by the Board of Directors, both of these issues will be decided by the drawing of lots by the candidates or the affected Directors.
In the event of any of the above situations, the Board of Directors shall inform the members of the Association the names of the elected persons by any manner of publication it may choose, provided such publication is sent to all members entitled to receive ballots under provisions of Section 4. hereinabove.
Section 7. Any property owner shall have the right to request in writing a recount of the ballots returned so long as the request is made within three (3) working days of the election date and an upfront fee is paid to cover all costs to perform the recount at a charge to be determined by the General Manager. All ballots will be stored by the POA independent firm in a safe and secure place for a period of one year.
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BOARD ELECTION PROCEDURES
• Water marked ballots (to help avoid duplication), letter, resumes and return postage paid envelopes will be mailed to all Association members in good standing on March 11, 2011. (Members are considered to be in good standing if not more than two months in arrears by March 4, 2011). Ballots are rotated at the printer to allow each candidate an equal opportunity for his/her name to appear first on the ballot. Two colors of ballots are used to distinguish between resident and non-resident votes.
• Cost of election materials will be approximately $5,300; Postage to mail will be $11,000 based on 25,000 at $.44; postage paid return envelopes based on 15,000 return envelopes will be $7,950 based on $0.53 each for a total approximate cost of $19,250.
• Deadline for receipt of ballots is 4:00 p.m., March 30, 2011.
• Prior to election day, ballots are stored unopened in the Accounting Department vault as they are received and bundled in lots of 100.
• On the morning of the election, envelopes containing ballots are taken to the site of the count at the Ponce de Leon Ctr. where they are opened by a staff member using an automated slitting machine observed by one of the Election Day Committee members.
• On March 31, 2011, members of the Election Day Committee and POA staff meet to tally the ballots beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Ouachita Building.
• After envelopes are opened, a numbered tally sheet is affixed to each bundle of approximately 100 envelopes by one of the Election Day Committee members.
• Ten counting teams composed of two POA staff each are seated at separate tables along with a member of the Election Day Committee who serves as an observer/runner.
• POA counting teams remove the ballots from each envelope and separate the two different colored ballots into separate piles.
• One member of each counting team reads the votes while the second member records each vote on the bundle tally sheet. Spoiled or questionable ballots will be segregated for evaluation by the Election Day Committee.
• Completed numbered bundle tally sheets are affixed to the related ballots and given to a member of the Election Day Committee for recording on the master bundle tally list. Tally sheets indicate the number of ballots and the number of votes in each bundle.
• Property Owners, Board members and the press may view the entire counting and tallying procedure from a distance of not less than ten feet from any counting team. They cannot speak, or attempt to speak to any counting team or engage in any activity which would serve to distract the counting/tallying team.
• Following the election, ballots and tally sheets are put in secure storage at the POA Accounting Dept. vault and retained for one year
Election Day Committee Duties:
• The Board appoints an ad hoc Election Day Committee consisting of not less than 14 people at its March 16, 2011 regular Board meeting. Committee members must be property owners in good standing and must not be the spouse of a Board member or Board candidate.
• A member of the Election Day Committee will observe the slitting of envelopes and take the bundles to the counting team.
• The Election Day Committee puts tally sheets on bundles and serves as a runner to tables.
• Members of the Election Day Committee serve as observers while counting teams remove the ballots from each envelope, separate the two different colored ballots into separate piles and record the votes.
• Recording of the numbered bundles into a Master bundle tally sheet will be done by an Election Day Committee member into an excel spread sheet on a laptop provided by the POA.
• The master bundle tally list is cross footed for resident votes and non-resident votes for each candidate and then total votes computed.
• The Election Day Committee will rule on the validity of spoiled/questionable ballots.
• The Election Day Committee then completes the Election Certification Sheet and notifies the General Manager of the results. The General Manager will notify the current Board of Directors, all Board of Directors candidates and issue a press release on the results.
• In the event of a material tie, the affected candidates will be called together and final results will be determined by the drawing of lots.