Election of strata council members can be a heated part of an Annual General Meeting (“AGM”), and can be a focal point for any other disputes or factional divisions amongst owners. We also often see untrusted council members appointed to council because there is a misunderstanding as to how the elections should take place.
Properly electing strata council members can make the difference between having effective, fair and economical leadership of the strata corporation throughout the year ahead, or having a quarrelsome strata council which is unable to effectively protect the strata corporation’s interests or fulfill the basic obligations of the strata corporation in terms of maintenance, governance and administration.
The Strata Property Act (the “Act”) requires that council elections must take place at each AGM, and that they must be conducted by majority vote; however, there is no specified procedure in the Act, the Regulations, or the Standard Bylaws as to exactly how the election should be administered. Therefore, it is open to the strata corporation to pass a bylaw setting out how the election is to occur, as long as the method specified is otherwise legal, fair and reasonable.
Who is eligible to serve on council depends upon the strata bylaws, but typically includes owners, designated representatives of corporate owners and tenants with valid assignments of owner rights. Specific bylaws may exclude owners in arrears, and may include other categories of people, such as spouses of owners, as eligible to serve on council. Each strata lot can only supply one council member at a time, unless all owners are on council, in which case each strata lot has only one vote at a council meeting.
If there is no bylaw setting out the procedure for elections, the ownership can adopt fair and lawful procedural guidelines for the purpose of the AGM by majority vote.
An appropriate voting method will ensure that only owners approved by a majority of votes serve on the strata council. “Majority Vote” is defined as follows:
“Majority vote” means a vote in favour of a resolution by more than 1/2 of the votes cast by eligible voters who are present in person or by proxy at the time the vote is taken and who have not abstained from voting.
An increasingly popular system is set out here, as an example of a practical, fair, legally valid and easily administered method for conducting a strata council election:
1. Each eligible voter is provided a ballot at sign-in with one line for each available position on the strata council (assume 7 spaces on council, which is typical).
2. A ‘Call for Nominations’ is delivered and the ownership has an opportunity to discuss the election, and nominees have a reasonable opportunity to speak.
3. Each eligible voter may then vote for as many as 7 unique names, with no duplications permitted.
4. The votes are then counted by current council members or management, with volunteer scrutineers observing.
5. The 7 candidates with the highest number of votes total, and who each receive one vote from more than 50% of the eligible votes (not counting abstentions), are then tabulated
6. The result is then confirmed by a simple majority vote (by show of voting cards) approving the newly constituted council and directing the destruction of ballots.
A method which is very popular among less formal strata corporations is to agree collectively and informally on who will serve, and then ratify that group as the Strata Council by majority vote. Although legally compliant and workable when there is no controversy, that system fails where controversy develops, and it may be necessary to resort to the ballot system if that occurs.
The Standard Bylaws contemplate that votes can be cast by various means, including show of voting cards, roll call, or secret ballot, but allows for the demand for a secret ballot by any one eligible voter. If a secret ballot is requested the Strata Council must take reasonable steps to ensure the secrecy of the vote, including creating a confidential voting area. Secure ballots, cardboard voting booths, and ballot boxes should be kept at hand for such votes.
Fischer and Company has a great deal of experience in bringing order to contentious meetings, and helping to resolve long-standing problems. For more information on conduct of meetings or assistance in running a contentious meeting or election, please contact our office for assistance.
