KiwiPaul said
Thing to bear in mind is that the result is only passed if a majority of those eligible to vote, vote in favor (as a no response is taken as a vote against the motion).
@Paul H said:
Our Strata Manager says that it is not correct that no vote means a vote against the motion. What is the basis for that claim?
That one had me scratching my head too.
EC votes are decided on a simple majority. Abstentions don’t count (which is pretty much the definition of an abstention).
Special resolutions at General Meetings (in NSW) require that no more than 25 percent of those voting are not against the motion. Again, and more critically, abstentions don’t count.
So, theoretically, you might have 60 owners in a block of 100 turn up for the AGM, 20 abstain from a vote on a special resolution and 11 of the remaining 40 vote against while the other 29 say “Aye”. The motion is defeated because more than 25 percent of the actual vote was against it, even though only 11 percent of the owners actively rejected the motion.
Just as an aside, this is a good indication of the ‘Ratchetting” effect of special resolution and by-law votes.
By the time owners realise they might have made a mistake in approving a by-law, it takes an awful lot of politicking to get the 75 percent vote needed to reverse the decision. The reality of strata life and the level of indifference is such that a highly motivated but tiny minority can have a huge bearing on how the building is run.