Fractions and Votes Under Robert's Rules

Condominium and homeowner association documents contain many different voting requirements.  For example, the required number of votes to elect a director is usually different than the number of votes required to adopt an annual budget.

The math involved in determining voting requirements doesn’t usually have whole round numbers. Suppose a planned community has 173 lots.  The Bylaws require a quorum of 20% of the owners at the annual meeting.  The quorum requirement, then, is 34.6. But does 34.6 mean that 34 or 35 owners must be present in person or proxy?

The use of the term “majority” is often misunderstood.  Under Robert’s Rules, a majority means “more than half.”  (Occasionally, I hear people say that a majority is 50% plus 1.  This is an incorrect interpretation and results in a wrong voting threshold.) Let’s assume quorum is achieved and an issue arises requiring a majority vote. Blank ballots or abstentions aren’t counted. With that in mind:

If 19 votes are cast, a majority (more than 9.5) is 10

If 20 votes are cast, a majority (more than 10) is 11

If 21 votes are cast, a majority (more than 10.5) is 11

The term “majority” must be read in context. And with slightly different verbiage, “majority” may mean very different things.  Let’s assume there are 150 lot owners.  The Bylaws contain a 10% quorum requirement.  Out of the 150 lot owners, only 30 show up and only 25 of the 30 actually vote on the issue.  If the Bylaws simply require “a majority vote”, then only 13 votes are required.  But what if the Bylaws require “a majority of the members present”? In that case, 16 votes are required.  Here are some other examples commonly found in community association Bylaws:

“a majority of the entire membership” (76 votes required)

“2/3 of the members present” (20 votes required)

“2/3 of the entire membership” (100 votes required)

Many actions at owner meetings require a 2/3 vote.  Suppose the governing documents require the approval of a motion by a 2/3 vote of the members present in person or by proxy.  Under Robert’s Rules, you don’t round down:

If 30 votes are cast, a 2/3 vote is 20

If 31 votes are cast, a 2/3 vote is 21

If 32 votes are cast, a 2/3 vote is 22

If 33 votes are cast, a 2/3 vote is 22

In community associations where voting rights are tied to the square footage of a dwelling, matters are even more complicated. In short, read your documents carefully and do the math before the meeting!

Different Meanings of Majority

Condominium and homeowners association governing documents require certain association issues to be voted on. Depending on the specific issue, there may be a different voting threshold, or number of votes required for approval. Let's start with some basics. Robert's Rules of Order defines a "majority vote" as more than half of the votes cast, excluding blanks and abstentions. [RONR, 10th ed., 387)

A "super" majority is anything greater than half. However, avoid using the term "super majority," because that term may have different meanings. An amendment to your governing documents may require 75% approval by the owners. An increase in assessments may require 2/3rds of the owners to approve. Both are technically "super majorities", yet very different numbers.

You must look carefully at the language in your governing documents to understand how many votes are necessary. Here's a hypothetical:

There are 200 lots in the association. At the annual meeting 100 owners are in attendance in person or by proxy. 97 owners cast votes related to the approval of a special assessment, 3 owners abstain.

Depending on the language in your governing documents, the required votes could be very different. Here are some common voting requirements along with the votes necessary under our hypothetical:

1) "A majority of owners present in person or proxy at a meeting" = 51 2) "A majority of votes cast by owners present in person or proxy at a meeting" = 49 (remember, only 97 votes were "cast") 3) "A majority of all lot owners" = 101

Very small differences in the language results in very different outcomes. So, pay close attention to the language used in your governing documents, and make sure you know with certainty the voting thresholds before you take a vote!