The question surrounding the Special Assessment does not have to be complicated.

The Association has already provided most of the numbers. What has not been provided is perhaps the most important number of all: How many Owners were actually eligible to vote?

That number matters because the governing documents distinguish between quorum and approval, and they define “Majority” by reference to the applicable total eligible number.

In its notice announcing the results, the Board reported:

57 — Total ballots received
48 — Ballots determined to be valid
25 — Votes in favor
23 — Votes opposed

The Board then reported the result as: 25 ÷ 48 = 52.1% and declared the Special Assessment approved.

The arithmetic is correct. 25 is 52.1% of 48.

My question is not about the arithmetic. My question is: Why is 48 the denominator?

The Bylaws establish a quorum when at least one-tenth (10%) of the eligible Association votes are represented. The Board specifically relied upon that provision in announcing the results and stated that the 48 valid ballots satisfied the quorum requirement. I do not dispute that 48 ballots may have been sufficient to establish quorum. But establishing quorum and obtaining the required approval are two different questions.

Quorum asks: Were enough eligible votes represented for the Association to take action?

Approval asks: Did the Special Assessment receive the number of affirmative votes required by the governing documents? Satisfying the first does not necessarily establish the second.

The Association has told us:

57 ballots were received.

It has told us:

48 ballots were valid.

It has told us:

25 voted Yes and 23 voted No.

What it has not told us is:

How many total Owner votes were eligible?

That is important because 48 valid ballots returned and the total number of eligible Owner votes are not necessarily the same number. If 100 Owners were eligible but only 48 returned valid ballots, the question becomes whether the governing documents require the approval calculation to be based upon 100 eligible votes or the 48 valid ballots cast. 

If 75 were eligible, the denominator is potentially 75.

If 60 were eligible, the denominator is potentially 60.

The governing documents—not voter turnout—should determine which denominator applies.

If the applicable requirement is more than 50% of the total eligible number, then 25 affirmative votes constitute a Majority only if the total eligible number was 49 or fewer.

For example:

49 eligible votes → 25 Yes votes = Majority

50 eligible votes → 26 Yes votes required

57 eligible votes → 29 Yes votes required

75 eligible votes → 38 Yes votes required

100 eligible votes → 51 Yes votes required

Therefore, the difference between 48 ballots returned and the total eligible voting population is not a technicality. It could determine whether the Special Assessment passed or failed.

The Association reports that 57 ballots were received, but only 48 were determined to be valid. That means nine submitted ballots were excluded from the certified results.

There may be entirely legitimate reasons for those exclusions.

But the numbers create additional questions that should be easy to answer:

How many total Owner votes were eligible?

Why were nine of the 57 submitted ballots determined to be invalid?

Were those ballots excluded because the Owners were ineligible to vote, because of defects in the ballots, because they were received after the deadline, or for some other reason?

What was the required number of affirmative votes based upon the Association's total eligible voting population?

This does not require speculation about anyone's motives.

It does not require opposition to the Special Assessment.

And it does not require anyone to accept my interpretation of what happened.

The Association can resolve the question by providing the calculation it used:

184 Total Unit Votes
− Ineligible/Suspended Votes
= Total Eligible Votes
Total Eligible Votes × Applicable Majority Requirement
= Affirmative Votes Required
25 Affirmative Votes Received
Passed or Failed

If the governing documents instead authorize the Association to calculate approval using only the 48 valid ballots returned, then the Association should identify the specific provision authorizing that calculation and explain how it applies to the Special Assessment.

Either way, Owners should not have to guess.

Once we know the total number of eligible votes and the provision governing the approval calculation, the numbers should speak for themselves.