Many organizations grapple with voter apathy. It can be problematic when a quorum is required, and in some instances, it can be downright detrimental to the operation of the association. However, this year can be a year of unprecedented voter turnout! We have assembled a list of suggestions to turn your election from dud to dynamite:
- Online Election: We have seen an increase in turnout for most associations when switching to online elections, but it depends a great deal on where you start as well as what’s on the ballot. Some of our customers have seen a doubling or tripling, and this has allowed some to achieve over 50% participation in proxies for a quorum of 50% of the unit owners (HOA EXAMPLE), but others which started low (e.g., less than 5%) saw more engagement but it was not a panacea (e.g., they grew to 10-15%).
- Communication Strategy: Associations that have had the best results have used a multi-channel approach to getting the word out, including election information in all the communications (Call to action: vote on line). Include pertinent online election information in all existing communications: posting in the newsletter, common areas/forum, website; pushing notifications via association’s app; emailing before the election, at the start of the election, and during the election.
- Incentives: We have a group that had a change in management, but continued with the following program their first Voting Manager set up to move turnout from apathy to a quorum: They reward voting participation by providing a 10% discount on their association fee in the month after the close of the election.
- Multi-Year Proxies: One of the newest things we’ve heard of is multi-year proxies. We haven’t seen this in practice much as of yet, but the idea is, get the proxy, keep it on file for five years, and the board is authorized to vote a quorum/present for that person, so that you’re able to get to the quorum without them taking a position on any particular issue. For this one, you’d have to ask your association counsel, because this is a new thing that is not allowed everywhere, and we have the impression it’s a minority of places where it’s allowed.
- Single Sign On (SSO): Make it easy for your members to vote directly from your AMS or mobile app with SSO. AV integrates with the R@H app platform and iMIS to eliminate extra steps for your voters!