April 2022
Electronic voting has been slow to catch on despite solving many of the problems relating to condo voting, and widespread adoption elsewhere.
At its core, electronic voting allows residents to vote privately and at their convenience, securely and without influence or manipulation, from any location. For more about the benefits of electronic voting and how the process works see It’s Time for Online Voting in Condos, No Proxies Required and The Dilemma of Quorum in the Condo Archives.
Toronto Condo News has been supportive of electronic voting since 2014. It is used in municipal elections outside Toronto, and in over half the states in the United States. Condominium communities in Canada have been slow to adopt electronic voting to their detriment. Problems achieving quorum, vote counting and vote influencing all occur under the current system which costs more and takes longer to administer.
Proxies are banned in political elections in Canada and the United States. This helps ensure integrity of the electoral process by preventing someone from voting on your behalf. With electronic voting, proxies may serve a more limited purpose among those few without access to an electronic device, or for matters best decided at a meeting after receiving or hearing information at that meeting.
In the United States, some states prohibit proxy voting. Among communities that utilize electronic voting participation rates can exceed 90 percent with quorum obtained days or weeks prior to a scheduled meeting.
Detractors of electronic voting include those who prefer an outdated manual voting and proxy system allowing some to control the voting process while affecting who are elected as directors.
Electronic voting has been, and continues to be, in the best interest of condominium communities and their owners.
