I call bullshit on this. The election of the strata committee is carried out at the AGM, when the number of nominees are more than the number of committee members, and that number is decided at the meeting in the adjacent motion.
It is inconvenient to have an election, and it slows the meeting down. But there are a number of strategies to handle this.
First, the motion to decide the number of committee members can set the number as the number of nominations. If the two numbers match, then every nominee goes on the committee. The NSW legislation does limit the membership to 9 owners, but usually committees are less that this. So, revisit the committee membership number, and all the nominees can be on the committee.
Otherwise, take a pad of paper and a bunch of pencils to the meeting, and suggest, lets vote now – and hand everyone with a vote (ie include proxy holders) a sheet, to write down the committee members they want on the SC. Collect the sheets, and watch the strata manager tally the votes, and declare the winners.
Or suggest that the owners vote with a show of hands, as each nominated person’s name is read out. Two hands if the person is holding a proxy. Secret ballots are not required, and this is a very common approach.
The strata manager’s approach of sending out and later collecting ballot papers is nonsense. The strata legislation assumes that the election of a strata committee occurs at the AGM meeting itself, with the office holders being elected from within the committee at the strata committee meeting held immedately afterwards.