Sun City West elections committee reviews process, announces certified results; turnout 26.9%
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Summary
The Sun City West governing board elections committee reviewed this year’s voting procedures, reported certified results showing 6,693 ballots cast (26.9% turnout), and discussed process changes including homebound voting, campaign-material guidelines and accessibility improvements.
The Sun City West governing board elections committee met at 9:00 a.m. to review this year’s voting procedures, report certified election results and outline recommendations for the incoming committee.
Committee chair Lou Anne, Elections Committee Chair, opened the meeting by announcing the winners and thanking volunteers: “First of all, I would like to congratulate our new board members. Anne Becknell, Nick Turner, John Chattin were elected to the full 3 year terms, and based on vote totals after the 3 year terms were filled, Sandra Forsey filled the open 1 year term.”
The committee reviewed turnout and voting methods. Katie, Election staff member, said, “The vendor did provide us with certified results and it shows that we had 6,693 members who cast a ballot. . . . 24,899 [eligible] voters. 9 of those votes were by telephone,” and she added that 319 votes were cast in person with the remainder cast early online. The committee recorded turnout at 26.9 percent.
Members described several procedural changes that were used this year and proposed follow-ups. The committee endorsed continued use of a homebound-voting process in which member services collects requests and forwards them to election chairs to arrange assistance. The group also supported the Candidates Corner tent at the Munchy Monday event as a way for voters and candidates to meet, while noting that Policy L13 (authorization for candidate activity on association common areas) and training materials should be clarified so rules are consistent.
Committee members recommended operational improvements: more proactive mass email reminders to owner members about registration and ballots; expanded use of the Sun City West radio station for short election reminders; setting a firm time for results announcements on election day when many candidates are waiting; and providing the election committee with an official Sun City West email address and at least one committee phone so volunteers need not publish personal contact information.
Accessibility emerged as a substantive topic. Steve, Committee member, described difficulty hearing in the venue and recommended investigating audio systems that stream directly to hearing aids and cochlear implants via Bluetooth or Wi‑Fi apps. The committee agreed to pass that suggestion to the IT manager for further research.
The chair said she will submit redlined revisions to the petition and candidate packets, the election guide and the training packet based on this year’s experience, and that she plans to present a final report to the governing board in July requesting a bylaws and policy review for Article 3 (owner member election meetings), Bylaw 3.07, Bylaw 4.03 and Policy L13 to improve consistency of terms and to consolidate related provisions.
The committee accepted the minutes of the prior meeting by consensus, filed them as distributed, and adjourned at 9:38 a.m.
Next steps: the chair will circulate redlined documents to the incoming committee and submit the final report and recommendations to the full governing board in July.
