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The AGM has already passed and it appeared that it was a 5 against 5 tied vote, yet somehow the other side gets their way with raised levies and every other motion in their favour in the AGM. The strata manager has made out like the losing party had 4 votes and the winning party had 5.
One puts faith in the Strata Management company to do the right thing and relay the votes properly but what happens if we think they may be taking sides and not doing things by the book?
Also want to know what actually happens in a tied vote for future reference? Do they redo the motion proposals and try and get a consensus on that or other?
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As I have experienced it, a tied vote means the motion is lost.
Was it really tied or were unit entitlements (UEs) taken into account? It’s highly unlikely that every apartment has the same UEs so the chair or strata manager may have quietly made it a poll vote – alculated on UEs, and which any owner can call for at any time – and that would have give one side or the other a majority.
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.
Proxies are not Unit Entitlements. Your UEs are the figure by which your levies are calculated and they also carry a voting power that can be used as alternative to a simple show of hands, which is called a poll vote. A poll vote prevails over a show of hands. It is highly unlikely that your apartments all have exactly the same UEs.
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.
@guestguest, Ask your strata manager for a copy of the registered strata plan. The registered strata plan should show the unit entitlement for each lot in the strata plan. The unit entitlement is a number. In my plan, there are eight lots. The entitlements are:
128, 128, 128, 125, 125, 122, 122, 122
If the three lots with 128 unit entitlements get together, they can block any motion which requires a special resolution.
Here is a copy/paste of what the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (Schedule 1, Part 3 General Meeting Procedure, Section 14 Decisions at meetings) says about poll votes.
14 Decisions at meetings(1) Simple majority vote to generally apply A motion put to a meeting, or an election of officers of the owners corporation or members of the strata committee, is to be decided according to a majority in number of the votes cast for and against the motion with each person having one vote for each lot in respect of which the person is entitled to vote.
(2) Vote of original owner who owns more than half of lots to be reduced For the purposes of determining an election for officers of the owners corporation or members of the strata committee or appointing a strata managing agent (other than in the case of a poll), the value of a vote cast by an original owner must be calculated in the same way as for a special resolution.
(3) Value of votes to apply for poll If a poll is demanded by a person present and entitled to vote on a motion or for the election of officers of the owners corporation or members of the strata committee at the meeting, the motion is to be decided according to the value of the votes cast for and against the motion and the value of a vote cast by a person entitled to vote in respect of a lot is equal to the unit entitlement of that lot. However, the value of the vote of an original owner is to be calculated in the same way as for a special resolution.Note.Section 5 sets out the manner in which a special resolution is determined.(4) Polls A poll may be demanded immediately before or after a vote decided by a majority in number has been taken. The demand for a poll may be withdrawn by the person who made it.
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