February 2023
Some communities are migrating back to meeting in-person, while others remain committed to virtual meetings.
Opinions on virtual meetings are split. Some prefer to meet in-person with positive feedback coming from owners, boards and condominium managers. Some condo owners have become disillusioned with virtual meetings where they are unable to gather, voice concerns and socialize. The virtual format has been abused by some condo boards that prefer not to meet or communicate with owners who have elected them as their representatives.
Those who support virtual meetings cite the speed with which meetings are conducted, and not having to bring a large number of people together in one room. Those who remain uncomfortable with larger gatherings are able to participate.
Some condo directors have justified the need for virtual meetings on their service providers – accountant or lawyer – unwilling to attend in-person meetings. While such a claim may or may not be correct, this is no justification for continuing with virtual meetings. Any service provider unwilling to meet with their clients is easily replaced. More likely, the service provider is blamed because they are inaccessible to owners.
Electronic Voting
Communities and condominium managers continue to explore electronic voting. Online or electronic voting, also described as e-voting, can increase engagement, save time and money, and ensure accurate vote count.
Adoption of electronic voting during the pandemic, for some, became an opportunity to manipulate the results of condo elections.
Some electronic voting platforms are not designed to ensure fair condo elections.
Some electronic voting platforms are not designed to ensure fair condo elections. One electronic voting platform, GetQuorum, has compromised the security of electronic voting and tainted the results of thousands of condo elections. Condo boards using the platform are unable to assure owners that their votes are secure and confidential. As first reported in The Globe and Mail, the company acknowledged that their platform fails to ensure voting remains confidential until an annual general meeting. The company works with thousands of condominium corporations, property management companies and other groups using what they claim is a secure online platform. What they fail to disclose is that their platform can be used to manipulate the outcome of condo elections.
Regardless of how annual general meetings are held, Toronto Condo News has been an advocate of electronic voting for its many advantages over paper-based systems which includes the need for proxies which, at times, has been abused.
Early vote result disclosure should not be an accepted feature of electronic voting systems even if some condo boards or directors desire advance access to real-time voting information.
“Most electronic platforms recognize the need for confidentiality of advance voting to maintain the integrity of elections“ explains Alexis Barrett of CondoVoter, a popular electronic voting provider for Condominiums and HOAs. “Among condo owners there is an expectation that voting results are not disclosed until after an election period closes. An electronic voting platform should not compromise the integrity of the voting process by providing advance access to voting results that allow an election to be manipulated. After clicking ‘submit’ on a ballot screen, it should be impossible to disclose individual vote choices, and there should be no way to obtain advance viewing of election results until after an election period has closed.”
Early vote result disclosure should not be an accepted feature of electronic voting systems even if some condo boards or directors desire advance access to real-time voting information. This provides an unfair advantage to an incumbent director or anyone supported by the board in their efforts to influence the outcome of elections without owners being aware.
Ontario has virtually no rules governing what form of electronic balloting is acceptable and no regulations defining what sort of confidentiality owners should expect. It is up to condo boards and owners to ensure their elections are conducted fairly and transparently.
