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I recently had to request an EGM to get some stuff sorted out. While I was at it, I decided to put forward some other housekeeping motions.
I trawled back through recent minutes and I couldn’t see anywhere where the owners corporation or strata committee had passed a motion to adopt pre-meeting electronic voting which became a requirement from 30 September 2022. So I put forward a motion for the owners corporation to adopt pre-meeting electronic voting.
When the strata manager got to this motion in the EGM, he asked me why this motion was here, saying that we’ve been doing pre-meeting electronic voting for ages. I tried to explain to him that they were temporary COVID-19 measures and now you need to officially adopt pre-meeting electronic voting. Normal electronic voting is already covered, it’s just pre-meeting electronic voting that requires a resolution. Our strata manager wasn’t convinced but I forced him to call the vote and the motion passed.
Our last AGM was 31 August 2022, so this new legislation didn’t apply. But our strata committee recently held an SCM on 6 December 2022. According to the SCM minutes, all of the committee members submitted pre-meeting electronic votes via electronic ballot papers. As no resolution had been passed to adopt pre-meeting electronic voting before this meeting, technically speaking, these votes were all invalid.
I’m just wondering how many other strata plans would fall into this category. This requirement hasn’t really been that well advertised and our strata manager certainly didn’t make us aware of it. I just accidentally stumbled on the information somewhere while I was looking for something else.
My reading of the relevant legislation is that the strata committee AND the owners corporation need to pass a resolution to adopt this:
(b) if the strata committee has, by resolution, adopted pre-meeting electronic voting as a way of voting—pre-meeting electronic voting for a meeting of the strata committee,
(c) if the owners corporation has, by resolution, adopted pre-meeting electronic voting as a way of voting—pre-meeting electronic voting for a meeting of the owners corporation.
So I presume that there needs to be a resolution passed at two separate meetings – SCM & AGM/EGM.
If you haven’t already done so, you should add this to the agenda of your next meeting.
- This topic was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by .
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The laws surrounding strata voting are fairly loose, provided there is no intention to deliberately mislead, so I wouldn’t worry about the validity of previous votes.
And I think the AGM could cover both committee and general meeting votes, if it’s happening soon, but the committee could and should tidy this up if the AGM is some time away.
I suspect the post-Covid rules were brought in to cover schemes that hadn’t already gone to electronic votes but might want to
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.
Thanks for this and let me please raise the point that the Regulation (14 of SSMR) seems badly drafted, regarding motion voting for AGMs and (E)GMs in some instances.
As below, it would seem to allow a poorly attended physical meeting on the EGM date to effectively stymie a greater number of Owners voting by pre-meeting email, unless the motion stated that voting on it would only be by pre-meeting email.
For example, with voting by both pre-meeting email and at the meeting itself, say 40 Owners could all vote for a motion and 10 other Owners at the AGM itself, opposed to the motion but knowing they could not defeat it, could simply amend it in a way to negate it. In other words, 10 could outvote 40. Then the motion’s supporters would be faced with trying to requisition a GM and turn up at it to get the motion through? No?
If yes, why does the regulation allow that in the first place. Also I note the regulation’s stipulation that such amendments must not change the “subject” is very vague.
I refer you to:
(b) (i) the relevant motion may be amended by a further motion given at the meeting after the pre-meeting electronic voting takes place, and
(ii) consequently, the pre-meeting vote may have no effect.14A Pre-meeting electronic voting
For the Act, Schedule 1, clause 28(3) and Schedule 2, clause 10(3), the following applies in relation to voting by pre-meeting electronic voting—
(a) an election must not be determined by pre-meeting electronic voting,
(b) for a matter that may be determined partly by pre-meeting electronic voting—the notice of the meeting must include a statement that—
(i) the relevant motion may be amended by a further motion given at the meeting after the pre-meeting electronic voting takes place, and
(ii) consequently, the pre-meeting vote may have no effect,
(c) a motion that is to be determined wholly by pre-meeting electronic voting must not be amended at the meeting for which the pre-meeting electronic voting was conducted,
(d) a motion that is to be determined partly by pre-meeting electronic voting may be amended at the meeting for which the pre-meeting electronic voting was conducted but only if the amendment does not change the subject matter of the motion,
(e) if a motion that is to be determined partly by pre-meeting electronic voting is amended at the meeting for which the pre-meeting electronic voting has been conducted—the minutes of the meeting distributed to owners must be accompanied by—
(i) notice of the change, and
(ii) a statement setting out the power to make a qualified request for a further meeting under the Act, section 19.- This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by .
… 40 Owners could all vote for a motion and 10 other Owners at the AGM itself, opposed to the motion but knowing they could not defeat it, could simply amend it in a way to negate it…
I don’t know if there is anything specific in NSW legislation on this but all general guidance on meeting procedure would tell you that such an amendment would be invalid and should not be allowed by the chair of the meeting. Where I am, our meeting notice includes a statement for the benefit of anyone cating an absentee vote that their vote will still count if a motion is amended and that the chair will only accept a motion to amend if ‘the amendment is within the scope of the original motion and does not alter its nature’, which is a quote from Joske’s book on Meeting Procedure.
So, a valid amendment might be to change a notice period from 7 days to 14 days for some thing the meeting decides to do but the motion would still be about doing some thing and giving people reasonable notice of when it is going to happen. An invalid amendment would be to insert the word ‘not’ into a motion to do some thing.
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