Election season is where a lot of otherwise well-run associations get themselves into trouble. Not because the board did anything malicious, but because someone missed a notice deadline, an outside envelope was labeled wrong, or a candidate's information sheet went out a day late. As the manager, you're usually the one holding the timeline in your head, so it pays to run elections the same way every single year, with a checklist rather than memory.
Start with the governing documents and the applicable statute before you do anything else. Condominiums under Chapter 718 and HOAs under Chapter 720 have different notice and voting mechanics, and within each chapter, bylaws can add requirements the statute doesn't. Confirm current notice periods, candidate deadlines, and quorum or voting thresholds with association counsel before you set your calendar. Don't rely on what you did last year if there's been any statutory change or a documents amendment since then. This is one of those areas where a five-minute email to counsel saves you a contested election later.
Once you know your deadlines, build a written timeline and put it in the board packet. Include the date the first notice goes out, the deadline for owners to submit intent to run, the date candidate information sheets are due, the date the second notice and ballots go out, and the date and time of the meeting. Share this timeline with the board early so nobody is surprised when you tell them the window for accepting late candidates has closed. Boards sometimes want to make exceptions for a popular owner who missed the deadline. Don't let them. A late candidate accepted informally is exactly the kind of irregularity that gets an election challenged.
Notice mechanics matter more than people think. First notice needs to go out with enough lead time for owners to submit candidacy, and it typically needs to be posted and mailed or delivered per your documents' notice provisions. Keep a log of how and when notice was sent, whether that's certificates of mailing, email delivery confirmations if your association has consented to electronic notice, or a posting log with photos and dates. If someone challenges the election six months later, you want a paper trail, not a memory.
Candidate information sheets are a frequent source of disputes. Owners have a right to submit a one-page sheet under the applicable statute, and the association generally can't edit content beyond format requirements. Don't let the board or anyone else censor a candidate's statement because they don't like what it says, as long as it's within the page and content limits your documents allow. If a sheet is late, treat it consistently with how you've treated late sheets before. Consistency is your defense.
Ballot handling is where clean elections turn into gray areas fast. Outer envelopes need to be set up so the voter's information is visible for verification and the inner ballot stays anonymous, per your bylaws and statute. Ballots should be stored securely between receipt and the meeting, ideally in a locked location with limited access, and nobody should be opening outer envelopes before the meeting unless your documents specifically allow early verification by an impartial committee. If you're using an independent elections committee or a third-party election administrator, get that in place early and make sure everyone understands their role in writing.
At the meeting, have a plan for who verifies envelopes, who counts ballots, and who serves as a tiebreaker if needed. Use an impartial person or committee, not board members who are themselves running or closely tied to a candidate. Take minutes that document the process step by step: how many ballots were received, how many were validated, how many were rejected and why. If ballots are challenged, note the challenge and resolution in the minutes rather than settling it in a side conversation.
After the election, retain everything. Ballots, envelopes, sign-in sheets, notice logs, and minutes should go into the official records and be kept for the period required by your recordkeeping obligations. If a recall or election challenge comes later, this file is what protects the board and you.
None of this is complicated once you've built the checklist. The managers who run clean elections year after year are the ones who treat the process as a series of deadlines and documentation points, not as a single event on the calendar. Build the system once, confirm it with counsel annually, and you'll spend far less time defending it after the fact.