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Election Procedures
ELECTION PROCEDURE
SADDLEBROOKE VILLAS ASSOCIATION NO. 20, INC
Pursuant to the authority of Article V, Section 4 of the Bylaws of the SaddleBrooke Villas Association No. 20, Inc., an Arizona not-for-profit corporation, (hereafter the corporation), the Board of Directors of said corporation (hereafter the Board), hereby determines and sets forth procedures to be followed for the annual election of members of the corporation’s Board of Directors, to supplement and be in addition to and not conflict with those requirements set forth in the Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation, and Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions of said corporation applicable to such elections:
The Annual Election of Directors shall be held on the last Friday of December of each year. The Board shall appoint the Election Committee Chairperson and the Election Committee at least ninety (90) days prior to the election date. The Election Committee shall consist of not less than three (3) members of the Villas Association who are in good standing, of which no more than one (1) may be a member of the Villas Board. At the November meeting of the Villas Association Board of Directors, the Election Committee shall submit a list of candidates for all Director positions to be filled.
The Election Committee shall no later than October 1 send to each owner(s) of a Villas lot then of record, by United States Mail, or, in extenuating circumstances, personal service (hand delivered) to an owner currently in residence in a Villa, a "Notice of Election". This Notice of Election (Exhibit A attached) shall include criteria for nomination to the Board of Directors and how and when such nominations can be made. The criteria are:
Villas Owner for at least one year as of election date.
Nominee must be current with respect to all payments of HOA#1 and Villas Unit #20 dues and assessments.
The Election Committee shall certify to the Board that
such notice was sent and to whom it was mailed or hand delivered on
a "Certificate of Service" form substantially the same as set forth
on Exhibit B attached. If the Notice of Election is hand delivered,
the lot owner must sign and date the required "Waiver of Mailing"
form (Exhibit C attached) as proof the lot owner received the Notice
of Election within the prescribed timeframe. The first date to
receive nominations shall be October 1 of each year.
3. The Election Committee shall solicit, as well as receive, candidacies of eligible Villa owners who are both willing to accept the nomination and serve on the Board of Directors if elected. In addition, ten (10) or more members of the Villas Association who are eligible to vote, may nominate a candidate and file such nominations over their signatures with any member of the Election Committee, no later than October 30. The Election Committee Chairperson shall, at the close of the nomination period, officially notify in writing those persons who meet the election criteria. The names of all those nominated shall be printed in surname alphabetic order on one ballot.
4.
No later than October 30, each candidate shall submit to the Election Committee a "Candidate Profile" outlining their qualifications for the Villas Association Board of Directors. The Profile must contain, but is not limited to, the following three paragraphs (maximum of two typewritten pages):Relate experiences in Villas Association Unit 20 activities that best qualifies the candidate to be a Board Member.
Describe other related experience that best qualifies the candidate to be a Board Member.
Complete the following sentence: If elected, my focus will be ……… .
Other information deemed relevant may also be included.
The Board encourages each candidate to participate in a "Meet The Candidate" session announced by the Board in the Notice of Election mailing distributed on, or before, October 1 of each year.
The Election Committee Chairperson will conduct all facets of the election in accordance with this Election Procedure established by the Villas Board. In the case of an election which at the close of the nominating period there are no more candidates for election as Directors than there are Directors offices to fill, and after certification by the Election Committee to the Board of those nominees, no further action shall be taken by the Election Committee with respect to the election.
5.
No later than the first Monday of December, Ballots, with the names of candidates in alphabetic order who have submitted a profile as outlined above, shall be mailed to Villa Owners via U. S. Postpaid Mail addressed to the Owner’s address as shown on Villas billing records. As in the case of the Notice of Election mailing, in extenuating circumstances, Ballots may be delivered by personal service (hand delivered) with the use of Exhibit C, Waiver of Mailing. The election package will contain:The Ballot (with instructions)
Candidate Profiles
An unmarked envelope
Ballot envelope which requires Owner’s name (printed), lot number, and Owner’s signature
Return-addressed envelope.
Ballots must be returned in accordance with the written instructions contained along with the Ballot. The marked Ballot must be placed in the unmarked envelope. The unmarked envelope must be sealed and placed in the "Ballot Envelope" that must contain the printed name, lot number, and signature of the Lot Owner. The signed Ballot Envelope is then placed inside the return-addressed envelope that must be mailed to the Villas Association Post Office Box and must be received no later than 10:00 AM on the last Friday of December.
No member who is thirty (30) days or more in default in the payment of any homeowner dues or assessments due to the Villas and HOA#1 Associations shall be permitted to vote at any election. Each lot may cast only one vote per candidate, cumulative voting in not permitted.
Ballots shall be sent to all Villa Owners by first class U. S. Mail, or, in extenuating circumstances, hand delivered, with instructions on where and how to vote, and with candidates listed in surname alphabetical order. Ballots shall be tabulated by, the Election Committee at, 10 AM on the last Friday of December at a location determined by the Board.
The Election Committee shall do the following:
Come to the meeting with a list, approved by the Board, consisting of Owners (if any) not eligible to vote because of past due assessments or current violations of Villa Rules and/or governing documents.
In all aspects of opening envelopes, determining if ballots were marked correctly, recording votes, etc. the general policy of "dual control" will be followed, i.e. one Committee member will perform a task and a second member (or other designated person) will observe and confirm the action.
Conduct the entire process in view of the other Owners who attend the meeting.
The ballot counting procedures should follow the following steps:
Open Election Return Envelope and remove Owner Identification Envelope. Confirm that Owner is eligible to vote, if eligible add name and lot number to list of eligible Owners that returned ballots. Remove Ballot Envelope from Owner Identification Envelope and accumulate in a place on table as designated. Continue until all envelopes have been processed. The total number of Eligible Owner Envelopes will provide a number against which to compare the number of ballots/votes counted later.
The Ballot Envelopes should next be mixed, or otherwise "shuffled" with the objective of removing the possibility of relating the Ballot Envelope with the Owner Identification Envelope from which it came.
Each Ballot Envelope is opened and the Ballot is reviewed to determine that it has been marked according to instructions. The Ballot results are then read aloud, the Ballot numbered sequentially and results tabulated by Ballot number. Ballots determined by the Election Committee to have not been marked as required are declared "spoiled" and are not counted.
After all ballots have been recorded, the Election Committee will add the vote totals and announce the results.
In the event of a tie vote among the candidates where there is a question of who shall serve on the Board or for what term, a recount shall be conducted. If a tie prevails, such tie vote shall be resolved by the flip of a coin among the candidates involved in the tie. The resolution of the tie shall be conducted by the Chairperson of the Election Committee.
Following the tabulation, all ballots will be sealed and stored with the Association Secretary for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of tabulation. The Election Committee shall file a formal report of the results of the election at the first Board Meeting following the election.