California · for owners

Your rights in an association election

If you own in a California community association, state law gives you concrete rights in every board election: to be told it is happening, to vote in secret, to have an independent inspector count the votes, and to challenge the result for a year if the procedure failed.

You are entitled to notice

The association has to tell you in advance: at least 30 days before the deadline for nominations, and at least 30 days before ballots go out. The notice has to say where and by when ballots are returned, and where and when they will be counted.

If no notice reached you, that is not a clerical slip. It is the kind of failure that can void an election. § 5115 sets out what the notice must contain →

Your vote is secret

Directors are elected by secret ballot. Nobody — not the board, not the management company, not whoever runs the system — may see your ballot or the running count before the time and place of the tally.

On paper this is done with two envelopes: the marked ballot goes into an unmarked inner envelope, and that envelope goes inside an outer one you sign. One proves you were entitled to vote; the other carries the vote. They are never in the same hand at the same time. How the count works →

You can choose paper instead of electronic voting

Since 2025 California associations may vote by electronic secret ballot. You can opt for paper — but the request has to be in writing, and it has to arrive no later than 90 days before the election. Telling the manager over the phone changes nothing until the written request lands. The seven requests that only count in writing →

If you never gave the association an email address, or never opted into electronic voting, you receive a paper ballot automatically.

Whoever counts the votes has to be independent

The law requires an independent inspector of elections. The inspector cannot be a director, a candidate, or anyone already under contract with the association for other paid services — which rules out the management company and its managers.

The inspector decides whether proxies are genuine and valid, counts the votes and certifies the result. The count is held in open session, and you have the right to be there. § 5110 — the independence test →

If there is no quorum

If the election falls short of quorum, the association may reconvene. The second meeting is held no earlier than 20 days after the scheduled election, on notice of at least 15 days. At that meeting 20 percent of members suffices — voting in person, by proxy or by secret ballot — unless the governing documents set a lower quorum. § 5115 — quorum and the reconvened meeting →

You have a year to challenge

If the election was run in violation of the rules you may sue — and the court must void the result unless the association proves the violation did not affect the outcome. The burden is on the association, not on you. The window is one year from when the result is announced. § 5145 — challenges →

You may also inspect the election materials: ballots, signed envelopes, voter lists and proxies stay in the association's custody and are open to member review. That right exists to verify the procedure, not to find out how your neighbour voted. § 5125 — custody and inspection →

The dates, from your annual meeting

The deadline calculator takes the date of your annual meeting and returns the four statutory deadlines that count back from it: adoption of the election rules, the consent notice, the last day to change voting method, and confirmation of device compatibility.

The terms you are going to read

Ballot, proxy, inspector, quorum, acclamation: the glossary of election terms explains each one and links it to the section of the Act it comes from.

The text of the law

Our reference section reproduces the text of each section — §§ 5100, 5105, 5110, 5115, 5120, 5125, 5130, 5145, 5200, 5260 and 4275 — as published by California's Legislative Counsel, with the date of each version.