Homeowners Associations(HOAs) have existed in the United States since the late 19th century. They were originally formed to maintain, fund, and develop public areas in planned communities, but have greatly evolved over the years, with the modern concept of HOAs dating to the middle of the 20th century, and the post World War II boom in the growth of suburban areas, and their numerous housing projects.
It is estimated that there are now over 360,000 HOAs throughout the United States, which “govern” over 25% of the country’s population, and their number only seems to be growing. Florida currently has the largest percentage of its population living in HOA communities, while California has over 50,000 HOAs, ranking them number one in the country. Hate them or love them, homeowners associations are in California to stay.
With the sheer, and ever increasing, number of HOAs, the importance of fair and clear elections that comply with hoa voting California laws is clearer than ever.
Luckily, the development in technology has followed the growth in importance of HOA elections in California, so there are now reputable and reliable companies like ElectionBuddy that offer modern voting solutions for HOA elections.
Recent changes in California’s HOA election legislation
The Davis-Stirling Act of August, 2024 has introduced additional provisions to the California Civil Code that have finally made it possible to vote for HOA elections online. Before that, the election was paper based, and it was illegal to use online voting systems or digital ballots. The traditional, paper based system is obviously slow, outdated, wasteful, and prone to human error, but with the improvements in technology, and most importantly, security of online voting systems, there were no longer any barriers that would call for paper ballots.
Those who still prefer the traditional ballot system, or mail-in voting, can still use their preferred method too, which makes this a hybrid system of HOA election, the most flexible and convenient that California has ever seen.
The Legal Requirements for HOA Elections in California
Under the Davis-Stirling Act, every HOA election in California must follow strict rules and procedures that include secret balloting, fair nomination processes, and clear timelines, and companies like ElectionBuddy have their systems already designed to comply with all the rules and regulations which makes it easy and convenient to organize and follow elections, budget approvals, bylaws, and anything else that an HOA might require.
How ElectionBuddy supports HOA election processes
ElectionBuddy is a company that specializes in software that streamlines election processes for a variety of settings. From schools and universities, to nonprofit organizations and HOAs, everyone can profit from using these systems that make every election safer, quicker, easier, and cheaper.
A growing number of HOAs have turned to companies like this as they ensure that the whole process of setting up votes, notifying members, collecting ballots, and certifying results, can be done quickly and easily online, in over 40 languages. This is especially important in California, with its aging demographic and an increasing number of the population being native speakers of languages other than English.
The advantages of the ElectionBuddy system include;
compliance with California HOA election laws,
ease of use in multiple languages for residents, as well as administrators,
a higher voter participation due to remote access, and the aforementioned ease of use,
savings on costs such as printing and mailing ballots,
and real-time monitoring and secure result certification.
All of these benefits usually additionally result in an increased trust in the election process, and within the community itself, especially since companies like this give an additional, independent oversight to guarantee compliance and transparency from all sides involved.
Conclusion
Homeowners Associations have been an increasingly important part of American society for a long time, and their importance seems to only be growing with over a quarter of Americans currently living in HOA governed housing. The state of California has over 50,000 HOAs, so it’s very important to ensure that election and voting processes within these associations are fair and transparent, regardless if the voting is about board members, budget allocation, or any other relevant issue.
Online voting platforms like ElectionBuddy provide a streamlined and advanced remote voting process that is developed with all the recent societal and demographic changes in mind. Voting on any relevant issue is done through the cloud platform where administrators can add and manage all relevant information, including voting results, seamlessly and quickly. From different languages, to the ability to add all sorts of different multimedia, and settings that can be adjusted to help the older population, or people with disabilities, systems like ElectionBuddy bring the whole HOA voting process in California into a new age of inclusivity and technical advancement.
