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加州民法典 § 5145

质疑选举

如果无记名投票选举的进行违反了选举相关法律,会员可以提起民事诉讼;除非业主协会(HOA)证明违法行为没有影响结果,否则法院必须宣告选举结果无效。会员可以在结果公布之日起一年内提起诉讼。

条文 民法典 § 5145 适用于 违反§§ 5100–5130的行为 诉讼时效 自公布之日起一年 修订 § 5145: SB 323 (2019) 生效 § 5145自2020-01-01起生效 条文核实 2026-11-03

民法典 § 5145 — 英文原文

Civil Action for Violation of Election Procedures
Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 848, Sec. 6. (SB 323) Effective January 1, 2020.

条文以英文呈现,因为法律以英文颁布,具有法律效力的是英文版本。本页的说明为中文;如与条文有出入,以条文为准。

(a)A member of an association may bring a civil action for declaratory or equitable relief for a violation of this article by the association, including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, restitution, or a combination thereof, within one year of the date that the inspector or inspectors of elections notifies the board and membership of the election results or the cause of action accrues, whichever is later. If a member establishes, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the election procedures of this article, or the adoption of and adherence to rules provided by Article 5 (commencing with Section 4340) of Chapter 3, were not followed, a court shall void any results of the election unless the association establishes, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the association’s noncompliance with this article or the election operating rules did not affect the results of the election. The findings of the court shall be stated in writing as part of the record.
(b)A member who prevails in a civil action to enforce the member’s rights pursuant to this article shall be entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs, and the court may impose a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation, except that each identical violation shall be subject to only one penalty if the violation affects each member of the association equally. A prevailing association shall not recover any costs, unless the court finds the action to be frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation. If a member prevails in a civil action brought in small claims court, the member shall be awarded court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred for consulting an attorney in connection with this civil action.
(c)A cause of action under subdivision (a) may be brought in either the superior court or, if the amount of the demand does not exceed the jurisdictional amount of the small claims court, in small claims court.

本条的历史版本

通过比较加州立法顾问办公室每个立法会期发布一次的法典版本整理而成。最早的是2013至2014年版,其中《戴维斯-斯特林法》已采用现行编号,因此修改从其后的版本起记录。这不只是存档问题:民法典第5145条给予会员一年时间质疑选举,适用的是选举举行当日的现行条文,而不是今天的条文。

  1. SB 3232020-01-01起生效

    Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 848, Sec. 6. (SB 323) Effective January 1, 2020.

    3处分项修改

    查看修改内容
    1. (a)… thereof, within one year of the date that the inspector or inspectors of elections notifies the board and membership of the election results or the cause of action accrues. Upon accrues, whichever is later. If a finding member establishes, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the election procedures of this article, … Chapter 3, were not followed, a court may shall void any results of the election unless the association establishes, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the association’s noncompliance with this article or the election operating rules did not affect the results of the election. The findings of the court shall be stated in writing as part of the record.
    2. (b)… to be frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation. If a member prevails in a civil action brought in small claims court, the member shall be awarded court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred for consulting an attorney in connection with this civil action.
    3. (c)A cause of action under Sections 5100 to 5130, inclusive, with respect to access to association resources by a candidate or member advocating a point of view, the receipt of a ballot by a member, or the counting, tabulation, or reporting of, or access to, ballots for inspection and review after tabulation subdivision (a) may be brought in small claims either the superior court or, if the amount of the demand does not exceed the jurisdiction jurisdictional amount of that the small claims court, in small claims court.

逐字转载自加州立法顾问办公室(Legislative Counsel)公布的条文,并与第二个来源逐字核对(leginfo (Legislative Counsel official bulk code database, LAW_SECTION_TBL) · California Public Law (Public.Law))。加州法律属于政府法令,不受版权保护。本页为非官方转载——官方版本由立法顾问办公室在leginfo.legislature.ca.gov公布,以该版本为准。
机器可读:/data/5145.json——同一条文,附分项锚点、日期和来源。

不对称

大多数法律把举证责任放在提出投诉的人身上,本条则恰恰相反。会员一旦证明选举的进行违反了选举相关法律,此时的预设结果便是选举结果无效——随后必须由协会来证明违法行为没有影响结果。

正是这一次举证责任的倒置,使程序上的严谨值得花钱。一个无法重建自己做过什么的协会,什么都无法证明,而“我们确信结果是正确的”并不是法律所要求的证明。

实务上的理解

您要捍卫的不是结果,而是产生该结果的程序记录。这是两样不同的东西,而只有其中一样可以事先准备。

什么构成违法行为

这项诉讼适用于违反相关各条规定而进行的选举——无记名投票要求、选举规则、选举监察员、法定人数与重新召集会议、汇总计票、保存,以及委托书。实际上,引发诉讼的瑕疵多是程序性的,而不是计算上的:

“没有影响结果”对您提出了什么要求

要证明违法行为无害,协会必须说明如果没有该违法行为会发生什么。这是基于记录进行的计算;因缺少记录而失败的情形,远比因票数差距不够而失败的多。

如果有十四名业主收到通知过迟,协会需要知道是哪十四名、他们如何投票或是否投了票、各自持有多少投票权重,以及无论排除还是计入他们,结果是否仍然成立。这些问题都无法从一张只有总数的电子表格中得到答案。

救济措施

一年期限及其对保存的影响

诉讼时效自结果公布之日起计算,为期一年。因此,协会为该选举辩护可能需要的一切材料,都必须在这一年内完整保存且可以取回:依照民法典第5125条保存的选票和信封、依照第5200条供会员查阅的选举材料,以及没有任何法律明确列举、但每一项抗辩都依赖的通知与同意证据。

对于同时受欧洲资料保护规则和加州法律约束的协会——这对跨司法管辖区的物业经理来说是真实存在的情况——请注意其中的矛盾:法定的保存义务与会员的删除权相互冲突,两者要通过书面的保存期限表来协调,而不是二选一。

一份经得起质疑的记录包含什么

以下并非法定清单,而是一组材料,合在一起能让协会回答民法典第5145条向它提出的问题。

  1. 逐一会员的通知证明。发出了什么、寄往哪个地址、哪一天发出,以及有什么证据证明已经送达。笼统的“通知已寄出”并不是关于任何个别会员的证据。
  2. 同意登记册及其历史。谁同意电子送达、何时同意、谁撤回了同意,以及谁在期限届满前更改了方式。
  3. 基准日(record date)当时的选民名册,载明每个单元的投票权重及其背后的产权变动历史——这样,选举期间发生的产权转让就不会变成无法回答的问题。
  4. 当时适用的规则,按当时有效的版本原样保存,而不是以现行规则碰巧的写法代替。
  5. 监察员的核证,包括对受到异议的选票和委托书所作的认定,以及每项认定的依据。
  6. 可以重现的计票。相同的输入在相同的规则下,多年后仍能得出相同的结果,而不依赖任何人的记忆。
  7. 选票本身,予以保存,并可供重新计票和查阅。

可重现性是最常被省略的一项

存储的总数说明了结果是什么,但不能显示结果是如何得出的,而且一旦规则改变或选民名册有了变化,就无法再重新推算。一份可以重演的记录——当时的选民名册、当时的规则、所投出的选票——可以直接回答无害性的问题。无法重演的记录,则让协会只能凭记忆去对抗法定推定。

这首先是程序问题,然后才是软件问题

第5145条中没有任何内容涉及技术。一个认真举行纸本选举并严格保存记录的协会,比一个举行现代电子选举、却说不清适用的是哪个版本规则的协会,处境更为有利。软件在这里的意义,仅在于它能使这种严谨的成本低到足以每年坚持下去,包括那些没人预料会有争议的年份。

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