- This topic has 15 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 6 months, 2 weeks ago by .
-
Topic
-
Two days before a general meeting I (a SC member) asked for a poll vote and the strata manager replied (before the meeting) that he “will proceed as usual” with a “simple majority” notation if the motion is passed. Only on “contentious matters” he says that will he consider a poll vote. (Of course he alone will decide what is “contentious”).
The motions in question at the upcoming meeting are not contentious. I merely want poll voting to be the norm at this strata (as it was in the past with earlier strata managers). To date with the current SM, how each lot votes is never revealed.
Is the strata manager (who is acting as the SC/OC given the delegated powers he has) breaching the SSM Act by refusing to comply with the above provision of the SSM Act? Can he ignore the wishes of owners? In this case a member of the SC?SSM Act Schedule 1 cl. 14(3) makes reference to a “poll” vote?
Here’s what the SSMA says.
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), if the total unit entitlement of lots of the original owner is not less than half of the aggregate unit entitlement, the value of the vote in respect of the lots held by the original owner is taken to be reduced by two-thirds (ignoring any fraction).
(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.
Could forumsters please comment on my understanding, before I contact the strata manager yet again.
I understood that:
(1) Every eligible voter can ask for a poll vote before or after a “show of hands” vote; and
(2) The request for a poll vote cannot be refused (by the strata manager or SC).
Thank you all.
-
Replies
-
You are correct.
However there is no penalty for the SM when he does this.
I suggest what you should do is recall who voed for and who voted against the motion(s)
Calculate the result is a poll vote was taken. You can get the unit entitlements from the strata roll. It may also be worthwhile to determine who was finaincial at the time as being unfinancial does not allow one to vote.
Then determine if the result would have changed. If the issue is important enough you can go to NCAT to get the result changed. BUT in that case you will need conculsive evidence of who voted for and who voted against the motion. If its like most strata managers, the minutes will only say passed or defeated, with no indication of the voting pattern.
This should not be hard. When someone in the OC where I live gave notice that they might request a poll vote, the managing agent showed up to the general meeting with a laptop and spreadsheet with each unit’s unit entitlements preloaded so that the result could be quickly calculated.
Propose a motion at your next general meeting instructing the strata manager to conduct all votes by poll votes. Show them how easy it is to do by loading up a spreadsheet with lot numbers and UEs. If they refuse, they will be in breach of contract so invite them to resign.
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.
There are only a dozen lots in the building and all but one have the same u/e.
Hmm. Interesting. I wonder if this could be behind the strata manager’s reluctance. The effect of a poll vote would be to single out just one owner out of the 12 units to have more or less voting power than everyone else. Could this be a case where that would be legal but inadvisable?
I’m not sure the reasoning above is valid? This is the provision:-
“(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.”
The key phrase is “…immediately before or after..”. You need to call for a poll actually when the vote is taken, and not request a blanket poll vote ahead of the meeting. So at the meeting, each time there is a vote, you need to ask for a poll. I think the owners at the meeting can vote to permit that? In any case, holding a poll will slow down the voting a lot – the strata manager has to key in the votes to a spreadsheet, and identify everyone according to their lots, and lot entitlement. If the strata manager does not have the lot entitlements available (unlikely but possible), then they may need to defer the vote to another meeting. Since you are paying the strata manager to conduct the meeting, this delay will cost the OC more for the extra time involved, and if the result is not changed, that will not make the other owners happy, nor will the extra time taken up by the meeting.
In practice, most voting is done by a show of hands, according to the lots, and if the result is contentious, and the poll might change the result, then one is called and used. But annoying the other owners and the strata manager by wasting their time and adding to the effort for no good reason is not a good idea in general…There is absolutely no way for me to “immediately” before the “meeting” to notify the SM of my request for a poll vote because who is to say he will look at his email or answer the telephone in a timely manner?
I think the law says immediately before or after the vote. Which means if you are at the meeting – physically or virtually – then you can ask for a poll vote, a request that should not be denied.
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.
If he can ignore requests or instructions from the SC regularly and escape penalties, then what is the point of the SSM Act? What is the point of Fair Trading if it isn’t there to protect consumers?
One of the highlights of FT is that in this type of situation their go to line is “if the OC doesn’t like it then they can appoint a different agent”
Sad but true.
You think a poll is fun. At my upcoming AGM, in a large SP, one group believe they have the number to request a secret ballot for every vote.
Next level stuff. Should be entertaining.For a time, if you convinced NCAT that your strata manager was incompetent, they would appoint a compulsory manager to take over all the functions of the committee (bit of an over-reaction, methinks).
However, we recently reported a case where the strata committee got rid of the strata manager and had them replaced by a compulsory manager whose role was restricted to only the normal functions of a strata manager.
On the other hand, we have recently seen a strata manager who was removed by three strata schemes, then appointed as a compulsory manager to a fourth scheme.
The tribunal is unlikely to remove your strata manager and leave you find someone else. Go to the tribunal with a strata manager who is happy to take over only in that limited role and you have a better chance of success (depending on which Member you get).
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.
I do still wonder what else is going on behind this question. We have been told that all but one unit have the same unit entitlements. Only one unit has either more than the rest or less than the rest. The questioner either wants that one unit to have more or less power than all other units, automatically, for all future votes.
Is the odd unit out the questioner’s and they want to always have more say than the others or do they want to single out one neighbour to have less say?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.