That online voting system is pretty amazing. You get it free for up to 10 voters and then it’s charged on the basis of the number of votes.
FYI, I punched in the number of lot owners in my building (132) and it would cost us about $220 for one meeting and about $350 for an unlimited number of meetings per year.
The one question that arises is the legality (or otherwise) of this system but I reckon that you would get round that by giving proxies to the chair on the understanding that he used the proxies according to the electronic votes. That ‘understanding’ implies an element of trust as proxy holders can pretty much do as they please with the proxies. (Apologies if all this has been thrashed out earlier.)
And, to be fair, the procedural niceties of AGMs are only ever relevant if someone challenges the decisions that have been made. The Act does allow an adjudicator to revoke or nullify a decision if proper procedure hasn’t been followed – but they are also allowed not to take that action, provided the discrepancies in the vote would not have changed its outcome (see below).
Realistically, I reckon if everything is kept above board, transparent and as compliant with the law as possible, this is a great step forward, especially for small schemes with a lot of investor owners.
153 Order invalidating resolution of owners corporation
(1) An Adjudicator may make an order invalidating any resolution of, or election held by, the persons present at a meeting of an owners corporation if the Adjudicator considers that the provisions of this Act have not been complied with in relation to the meeting.
(2) An Adjudicator may refuse to make an order under this section but only if the Adjudicator considers:
(a) that the failure to comply with the provisions of this Act did not adversely affect any person, and
(b) that compliance with the provisions of this Act would not have resulted in a failure to pass the resolution or have affected the result of the election.
(3) An application for an order under this section may be made only by an owner or first mortgagee of a lot.
154Order where voting rights denied or due notice of item of business not given
(1) An Adjudicator may order that a resolution passed at a general meeting of an owners corporation be treated as a nullity on and from the date of the order if satisfied that the resolution would not have been passed but for the fact that the applicant for the order:
(a) was improperly denied a vote on the motion for the resolution, or
(b) was not given due notice of the item of business in relation to which the resolution was passed.
(2) An application for an order under this section may not be made after 28 days after the date of the meeting at which the resolution was passed.