Electronic voting explained

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Associations are discovering huge advantages by implementing electronic voting for their members pursuant to Florida Statutes §718.128 (for condominiums) and §720.317 (for homeowners' associations). Among other benefits, voting online saves thousands of dollars of cost to Asociations, increases member participation, eliminates dishonesty and human errors associated with paper votes, decreases meeting times, and greatly improves the process of inspections, as well as potential recounts.  Consenting owners in Florida can also receive notices by electronic (email) transmission, which significantly reduces costs associated with printing, envelopes, postage, copies, and administrative time.  And no more confusion about what envelope goes into what envelope--and more importantly the loss or delay of mailed ballots, including mailing ballots to the wrong address.

 Voting online and sending electronic notices by email is instantaneous and costs much less to associations. Due to less actual counting of physical ballots, meeting times are also shortened through the use of electronic voting, and associations can therefore reduce unnecessary expenses for attorneys, monitors, and other staff having to attend longer meetings. Instead of inspecting and counting ballots for hours, the electronic results are displayed and confirmed in just seconds. Most importantly, members can vote conveniently from their computers or mobile devices anywhere in the world.

 Online voting in Florida, however, must be done in strict compliance with the applicable statutes. As such, it is imperative that associations use a reliable, proven, secure, and legally compliant electronic voting system. Associations should not take risks with software that intermittently fails, only has a limited number of users, or was not created by a qualified lawyer.