Procedures for Conducting Elections of HBE Board of Directors—Fall 2006

As amended on October 3, 2006

1. All procedures will be conducted in accordance with the BYLAWS of the Hammock Beach Estates Home Owner’s Association (HBEHOA) -. Recent amendments to the By-Laws allow for voting for the Board of Directors to be in person or by absentee ballot. Proxy voting is no longer permitted for the election of officers, although it is permitted for voting on other matters and for determining a quorum.

2. Association members may nominate themselves or other members of the association by contacting the Board Secretary, Peggy Steele, by November 9, 2006 Nominations may be provided to the Secretary in person, by phone (446-9094) or by email (mfs618@aol.com). Nominating information should include

The name and address of the nominee and (if different) the name and address of the person making the nomination.

Note: The nomination is for a two year term.

3. The Secretary will compile the list of nominees. If someone is nominated by another member, the Secretary will only add the nominee to the list after contacting the nominee to confirm that the person is willing to run for the Board. If the nominee declines, the Secretary will inform the person who made the nomination of that fact.

4. The Secretary will obtain a brief one or two paragraph statement that describes the nominee’s background and interest in serving on the Board.

5. If the Secretary has not received enough nominations by November 9 to fill the two (2) two-year positions, she will inform the other Board members who will decide at that time the action they will take to encourage additional nominations.

6. At the November 16 Board meeting, the Secretary will present the ballot and nominee background information that will be distributed to each lot owner. Voters will be instructed to vote for not more than two nominees. If more than 2 candidates are voted for on 1 ballot, only the first 2 candidates will be counted. The secretary will also present the proxy form to be sent to members so they can be counted as present toward reaching a quorum.

7. Nominations will officially by closed as of the conclusion of the November 16 Board of Directors meeting. However, as required by the by-laws, the ballot will still provide a space for write-in candidates.

8. By November 20, the Secretary will mail the membership the necessary forms, envelopes and instructions on how to submit the proxy form and the ballot for each lot owned. The package will include:

A ballot and ballot envelope for each lot owned (lot number listed on the envelope by the secretary).

A proxy form and envelope marked "proxy."

A larger stamped and addressed envelope to mail the ballot envelope(s) and proxy form envelope back to HBEHOA.

An instruction sheet with instructions as follows:

+ Lot owners attending the annual meeting should bring the ballot(s) and ballot envelopes provided. The ballots will be marked and submitted in the ballot envelopes during the voting period. (Note. You must bring the information mailed to you, as replacement ballots or envelopes will not be available at the meeting.)

+ Lot owners not attending the annual meeting can vote by absentee ballot. Mark the ballot(s) by voting for (or writing in) no more than two candidates. Insert the ballot(s) into the envelope(s) marked "BALLOT" Seal the Ballot envelope(s). (Nothing on the envelopes marked "Ballot" should indicate how the ballot is marked. Any indication of voting preference on the ballot envelope will disqualify the ballot.) Complete the proxy designation form and insert it into the Proxy envelope. Insert Ballot envelope(s) and proxy envelope into the stamped and addressed larger envelope and seal it. Mail the larger envelope to the HBEHOA Secretary early enough so that it can be received prior to the commencement of annual meeting at 7pm on Thursday, December 7, 2006. Sealed larger envelopes may also be hand-delivered to the Secretary prior to the commencement of the annual meeting at 7pm on Thursday, December 7, 2006.

Absentee ballots received after the start of the annual meeting will not be counted and proxies received after the start of the annual meeting will not be valid.

9. Procedures for determining a quorum: Prior to the start of the meeting, the Secretary will open all of the large envelopes and segregate the ballot envelope(s) from the proxy envelope. The Secretary will have all members attending the meeting sign in and open all proxy envelopes and record the proxies. The Secretary will count the members in attendance and members represented by proxy to determine if a quorum has been reached. The Secretary will submit a certification of the count to the Board of Directors.

10. Inspectors of Election:

Ballots will be opened and jointly counted by four Inspectors of Election selected from volunteers in attendance at the annual meeting. Prior to being selected, the selected volunteers will be asked to "promise that they will not disclose the content of any lot owner’s vote other than their own vote." The president will select the four volunteers and his selection will stand if there are no objections from members in attendance. If an objection is raised, the president will ask for a voice vote on the candidates.

11. Procedure for counting ballots:

The HBEHOA secretary will give the inspectors of election the unopened absentee ballots and unopened ballot envelopes collected from the voting process at the meeting. Two of the inspectors will 1) determine that nothing on the ballot envelopes indicates how the ballot is marked. If there is any indication of voting preference on the ballot envelope, the envelope should be disqualified and not opened. 2) Record the lot numbers on a separate page (making sure that there is only one envelope received from each lot); 3) Open the envelope and remove the ballot; 4) Give the ballot to the other two inspectors who will count them and record the results.

When counting is completed the Inspectors should confirm that the total number of ballots counted is the same as the total number of lot numbers listed. Once all inspectors agree that the ballots have been properly counted, they should record the results on the Election Results form and sign the form. The ballot envelopes can then be destroyed. The ballots should be placed in a large envelope, sealed, and given to the Secretary to keep in the files. A spokesperson from the Inspectors of Election will report the voting results to the Membership at the annual meeting and give the Elections Results form to the Secretary. .

12. In the event that there are only two nominees for the two Board member vacancies, a motion can be made and approved by those in attendance to waive the prescribed written voting process and to vote by show of hands on the entire slate of nominees.

13. At the conclusion of the annual meeting, the new Board will hold a short meeting to determine the office each Board member will hold.

 

 

 

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