When Condo Associations Throw Out Ballots: What This Arbitration Case Teaches Boards and Owners

We all know that Condominium elections must be fair, transparent, and inclusive. When associations improperly disqualify ballots, they risk having an entire election overturned. A 2019 Florida DBPR arbitration decision involving Lake Clarke Gardens Condominium Association is a textbook example of how overly rigid or incorrect election practices can backfire.

The dispute in plain terms

In this case, a unit owner and board candidate lost a board seat by three votes. The association had thrown out 22 ballots for various technical reasons. When those decisions were challenged, the arbitrator closely examined whether the association was actually allowed to disqualify those votes under Florida law.

Signature mismatches alone are not enough

The association rejected ballots because the signatures on the return envelopes did not “match” signatures on file. The arbitrator ruled that when voters submitted sworn affidavits confirming the ballots were theirs, the association had no legal basis to exclude those votes .  In addition, Boards are not handwriting experts.  Absent an affidavit from an owner who says that’s not their signature on the envelope, that vote must be counted. 

Hand delivery is NOT illegal proxy voting

Several ballots were rejected because someone other than the unit owner physically delivered the sealed ballot to the association. The arbitrator flatly rejected this argument.

Florida rules expressly allow ballots to be mailed or hand delivered, and they do not restrict who does the delivering. Delivering a sealed ballot for someone else is not proxy voting. The vote still belongs to the unit owner.

Using a different outer envelope does not invalidate a vote

Some owners did not receive the association’s return envelope and used their own. The arbitrator ruled these ballots were improperly rejected because the substitute envelopes still contained all required identifying information and showed no sign of fraud.If the voter’s intent is clear and the envelope meets rule requirements, the vote counts—even if the envelope is not the association’s original.

Failing to use an inner envelope does NOT void a ballot

The association discarded ballots because voters failed to place them inside a secrecy envelope. The arbitrator held that secrecy is a right that belongs to the voter, and that right can be waived.  Importantly, waiving secrecy does not disenfranchise the voter.

The bottom line is that inner envelopes protect secrecy, not eligibility. Associations cannot throw out votes simply because secrecy was waived.

After correcting the improper exclusions, the arbitrator concluded that the election did not allow a full, fair, and free expression of the voters’ will. As a result, the arbitrator ordered that the candidate who originally lost be immediately seated on the board, replacing the sitting director.

This case is a reminder that condo elections are not about paperwork traps—they are about democracy within the community.

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