Sudden Valley committee approves April 2025 elections manual, adds language for online voting

The Sudden Valley Nominations and Elections Committee unanimously approved an April 2025 revision to its nominations and elections manual that incorporates language allowing online voting through an independent third‑party vendor and directed staff to correct the manual’s signature page.

Committee members said the revision spells out how electronic ballots would be handled and that electronic voting, if used, would close at the same time as the deadline for mailed ballots. "Any online voting, if initiated, will close simultaneously with the deadline for mail ballots," the presenter said while reviewing the revised manual.

The revision also adds a short provision in the preface specifying that "an independent third party election vendor will handle any online voting process," language the committee said should make hybrid (mail plus online) processes clear. Committee members asked staff to replace outdated names on the manual’s signature page (removing former committee members and adding current members) and to reissue an electronic copy and printed notebooks that include the revised manual and current bylaws.

Committee members discussed the need to reconcile the manual’s language with the association bylaws. Section 7 (voting) in the bylaws, as discussed in the meeting, currently lists in‑person and mail voting in paragraph d; a separate subsection (f) in a newer copy grants the association permission to "institute and utilize electronic voting through a third‑party vendor." Several members said the committee should add a short clause to paragraph d so that the methods available to members read "in person, by mail, or electronically," creating clearer linkage between the two provisions.

The committee also directed staff to schedule a test election with Unilect, the outside vendor the committee discussed previously. The presenter said she would email Unilect and copy committee members the following day and that the goal was to run the test in the coming weeks. "The test election is being worked on," she said.

Action taken was limited to approving the April 2025 manual with the one administrative condition: staff must update the signature page to reflect current committee members and change the document title from "Draft" to the April 2025 revision before printing and reissuing. Committee members said any proposed bylaw amendments to explicitly add electronic voting to paragraph d should be drafted by the committee and submitted in time for board consideration (committee members mentioned the June board timeframe as the target for submission).