As previously announced by the POA Board, our new resident board member is John O’Rourke, and he will start his two-year term in January, 2020. The election result was announced the day after voting was closed. We thank all of the candidates who stepped forward to run for this position.
We would like to give the community a little more information on the election.
We sent out 2,095 electronic invitations to vote (one per property), and 73.3% of the electronic ballots (1,536) were voted. The electronic voting was managed for Quail Creek POA by VoteHOANow. Our total costs for electronic voting was $1,514. This calculates the cost of each electronic vote cast to be $0.99.
For homeowners who could not or did to want to vote electronically and preferred a paper ballot, we mailed out 366 paper ballots and handed out another 20 at the Concierge Desk for those who did not receive or lost their paper ballot. This again was one ballot per property. We received back 51.3%. It’s important to let the community know that we received competitive bids for this paper ballot project. Our cost to prepare, print, collate, address, and stamp the paper ballots was $838.99. That’s a little over $4.24 per paper ballot voted. Printing costs will be higher for the next election since we have now exhausted our supply of return envelopes which were left over from previous elections. This is probably the most expensive item in the printed ballot package.
As you can see, the electronic voting produced a considerably higher response rate than the paper ballots. The electronic ballots cost about one quarter the cost per vote cast.
We encourage all residents to vote electronically. It’s a secure process, and it saves time and money – our POA money. We do realize some folks do not have access to email for electronic voting, and we will continue to provide paper ballots as needed. However, if you are currently receiving a paper ballot, please consider providing the Concierge Desk with your email address. If you have already provided an email address, but preferred a paper ballot in this past election, please consider changing your preference to an electronic ballot, just let them know at the Concierge Desk.
Some suggestions for future elections:
Electronic Voting: Vote as soon as you receive your ballot and have made your decision. The reminders for the electronic voting are frequent, but are turned off after you vote.
Paper Ballots: Vote for only one candidate. If you vote for more than one candidate, your vote will not be counted.
Lastly, we will be seeking one new member of the Election Committee. Please consider submitting an application to be a part of this important committee. You can submit your application online or turn in an application at the Concierge Desk. The next meeting of the Election Committee will be held on Feb. 21, 2020, and applicants will be interviewed following that meeting.