#25402
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    In a nutshell, you can’t vote for your committee by postal vote, emails or on a website.  However, you can vote by “live” telecommunication methods if you are effectively “present” at the meeting via Skype, telephone or teleconferencing:

    The following is from a Fair Trading spokesperson:

    Postal voting is not included as a means of voting for owners corporations or strata committees. In addition, pre-meeting electronic voting cannot be conducted for the election of members of the strata committee by the owners corporation. The reason for this is that clause 9 (1) (b) of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 permits the chairperson to call for nominations of candidates for election by the owners corporation at the meeting. If pre-meeting electronic voting was permitted, anyone nominated at the meeting would be excluded.

    Clause 10 of the Regulation sets out the procedure to be followed for the election of the members of the strata committee for schemes comprising more than 2 lots. If a ballot is required (the number of persons nominated being greater than the number of positions on the committee), then the chairperson provides each person present and entitled to vote with a blank piece of paper. The voter is required to write the name of the persons they wish to vote for, and include other information, including the capacity in which the voter is exercising their right to vote.

    Clause 14 (1) (a) allows owners corporations to permit voting by means of teleconference, video-conferencing, email or other electronic means for members of the owners corporation who may be in remote locations whilst participating in the meeting whilst it is being held. In these circumstances they may vote for members of the committee, as they would be made aware of nominations (and be able to nominate), for membership of the committee.

    The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.