ELECTION RULES

Section 1 Application of Rules:
  1. These rules shall apply only to the following elections:
  2. Approval of an assessment increase above the levels allowed to be made by the Board of Directors pursuant to Civil Code ß1366;
  3. Elections of the Members of the Board of Directors;
  4. Amendments to the Governing Documents (as defined in Civil Code ß1351); and
  5. Grant of exclusive use of a portion of the common area, to any member, pursuant to Civil Code ß1363.07.
Section 2(a) Qualifications for Membership Voting:
Only Owners of record, as defined in the Association’s CC&Rs, are qualified to be a Member of the Association. A Member shall be entitled to one (1) vote for each Lot or Unit owned. Apartment Owners shall have one (1) vote for each three (3) Apartment Units, or fraction thereof, owned. When more than one person holds an interest in any Lot or Unit, all such persons shall be Members. The vote for such Lot or Unit shall be exercised as they among themselves determine, but in no event shall more than one (1) vote be cast with respect to any Apartment, Lot or Unit.

Section 2(b)
A Member's vote may be cast in every election unless following Notice and Hearing before the Board of Directors, or other appropriate Association committee, following a procedure described in Corporations Code ß7341, it has been determined that the Member is not in good standing as defined herein below.

For purposes of these rules “not in good standing” shall mean that the Member at the time of the determination:

(i) Owes the Association an undisputed debt for assessments, penalties, costs, interest, late charges, judgment or fine, which is more than 90 days old. For purposes of this rule such a debt is “undisputed” if the Member has: (A) not challenged the debt with credible written evidence, or (B) the Member has requested and attended a hearing before the Board of Directors, or other appropriate Association committee, which resulted in an overall determination favorable to the Association;

(ii) Has current violation(s) of the Association’s Governing Documents (as defined in the California Civil Code ß1351) which is/are unremedied for more than 90 days following notice of the violation from the Association or which are unsuccessfully challenged by the Member at a hearing. For purposes of this rule a violation is successfully challenged by the Member when the Member has: (A) opposed the violation with credible evidence, and (B) requested and attended a hearing before the Board of Directors or other appropriate Association committee, where the hearing resulted in a determination generally favorable to the Member. Any other action by the Member or result following a hearing is an unsuccessful challenge;

(iii) Is currently, or within the 36 months prior to the election has been, a party in litigation against the Association in which the Association was the prevailing party.

Section 3(a) Qualifications for Candidacy and Continued Service on the Board of Directors:
Pursuant to the Association’s Governing Documents, any Candidate for a position on the Association’s Board of Directors must be in good standing with the Association. For purposes of these rules “not in good standing” shall have the same meaning as described/defined above, and/or that the Candidate, at the time of the nomination, is burdened by a judgment in favor of the association.

Section 3(b)
In any event, any qualified Candidate may nominate himself/herself to run for a director position, in accordance with the Governing Documents, the California Civil Code, and California Corporations Code.

Section 3(c)
Only Candidates who are in good standing are qualified to be Candidates for election to the Board of Directors.

No Member may be a Director or Candidate for election to the Board of Directors who, after Notice and a Hearing in accordance with a procedure described in Corporations Code ß7341, before the Board of Directors, or other appropriate Association committee, has been determined to be:

(i)Convicted of a felony;

(ii)A Member “not in good standing” (see Section 2(b) above;

(iii)At the time of nomination, the Member is burdened by a judgement in favor of the Association;

(iv)Married to, or related by blood, or sharing a common household with any other Member of the Board of Directors.

(v)The Candidate and/or Director cannot be bonded by the company providing the Association fidelity bond coverage.

Votes will not be counted for any Candidate who is not qualified.

Section 4.0 Solicitation Materials:

Section 4.0(a)
If access is provided to any Candidate, all Candidates for election to the Board of Directors shall have one no cost opportunity for access to Association media selected by the Board of Directors (e.g. the Association’s newsletter, or the Association’s web site) during a campaign, following reasonable notice to all Candidates of the availability, for a purpose(s) reasonably related to that election, provided the deadline for delivering the Candidate’s statement to the Association established by the Board of Directors, as set forth in the reasonable notice to the Candidates, shall have been met by a Candidate for such publication prior to that election.

No Candidate’s statement shall exceed 250 words for publication in Association media. For purposes of this rule, notice to the Candidates shall be sent to the Member’s address on file with the Association.

Section 4.0(b)
Any Candidate wishing to present any other campaign materials to the Members other than as provided in (a) above, and in other than Association media, may do so by any reasonable means, and at the Candidate’s sole expense.

Section 4.0(c)
If access is provided to any Member, all Association Members shall have one no cost opportunity to have access to Association media selected by the Board of Directors (e.g. the Association’s newsletter or the Association’s web site) during a campaign, following reasonable notice to all Association Members of the availability, for a purpose(s) reasonably related to that election, provided the deadline for delivering the Member’s statement to the Association established by the Board of Directors, as set forth in the reasonable notice to the Members, shall have been met by the Member for such publication prior to that election. No Member’s statement shall exceed 250 words for publication in the Association media. For purposes of this rule, notice to the Members shall be sent to the Member’s address on file with the Association.

Section 4.0(d)
Any Member wishing to present any other campaign materials to the Members other than as provided in (c) above, and in other than Association media, may do so by any reasonable means, and at the Member’s sole expense.

Section 4.1 Content:
The Association shall not edit or redact any content from Candidate or Member messages, but may include a statement specifying that the Candidate or Member, and not the Association, is responsible for the content of any published statement.

Section 4.2 Limitation on Publication Space Made Available:
So long as each Candidate and/or Member is provided the same opportunities for publication, the Association may restrict the availability of any Association no cost publication by limiting the number of opportunities for print space made available and/or the number of words that will be included from each Candidate or Member in the Association's no cost publication. In the absence of more restrictive limitations adopted by the Board for any particular matter, each Candidate and/or Member shall be limited to no more than 250 words for any one Association publication. The Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion, present a candidacy questionnaire with questions for all interested Candidates and/or Members to complete. If such a questionnaire is provided, then the Association will only print the answers to such questions and may impose a limitation upon the number of words for the response to any question presented.

Section 5 Availability of Meeting Space:
One time access to a common area space determined by the Board of Directors, on a date and at a time reasonably established by the Board of Directors, shall be provided at no cost, following reasonable notice, to all Candidates and all Association Members, for the purpose of hearing any such Candidate or Member wishing to advocate a position, support or opposition to any Candidate or election matter, prior to the election by hosting a "Meet the Candidates Night", or other special gathering, so long as every Candidate and/or Member is provided with an equal opportunity to participate in the event. The Association shall not charge for the use of the common area space on the date and at the time so designated for this purpose.

Section 6(a)Selection of Inspector(s) of Election:
Prior to the presentation of any issue to the Members for a vote, the Association shall appoint one (1) or three (3) Inspector(s) of Election. The Inspector(s) of Election appointed by the Board of Directors may be any person or entity other than: (1) a Director; (2) a Candidate; (3) any of the Director's relations; or (4) any of a Candidate's relations.
The appointed Inspector(s) of Elections must be an independent third party and may include, but not be limited to, a Member of the Association or any person or entity employed by and receiving compensation from the Association.

Section 6(b)
The Inspector(s) of Election shall use these rules, the Civil Code and the Corporations Code, shall consider the advice of the Association's corporate counsel, and shall attempt, in so far as possible, with fairness to all, to allow the vote of each Member, and be consistent, in the discharge of his/her responsibilities.

Section 7 Meeting Conduct:
Any count or tabulation of ballots shall be done at an open meeting of the Delegates or the Board of Directors. Any Candidate or Member may observe the count, but shall stand at least ten (10) feet away from the Inspector(s) of Election. Candidates and/or Members may not harass, cajole, distract, molest, communicate with, or otherwise interfere with the Inspector of Elections while the count is taking place. Prior to the completion of the count or tabulation, Members or persons not specifically authorized to do so by the Inspector of Elections may not touch any ballot or other election materials. All ballots will be made available for inspection by any Candidate or Member during regular business hours at the Association's management office once the meeting is concluded. Any person violating this Section may be asked by the Inspector of Elections to leave the meeting, the count and tabulation may be continued to a different time and/or place, or any other reasonable step(s) may be taken by the Inspector(s) to prevent further disruption.

The authenticity, validity and effect of proxies shall be determined by the Inspector of Election. The polls for any vote of the Delegates shall open at a properly noticed and convened meeting of the Delegates and shall be closed at the time that envelopes are opened, unless the Inspector determines another time for the polls to close. The polls for any vote of the Delegates shall close when the Inspector of Election has determined that the ballots shall be counted.