The information package
Some condo board incumbents do not want to lose and losing is always a
possibility
with a democratic system.
To give the incumbents an edge, election tricks can be found in the AGM
information packages that are mailed to the owners. In most condos, the
owners voting by proxy greatly outnumber the owners who attend the
meeting so
the incumbents, aided by the property management, may look for an edge
by playing games with the AGM information package.
Due to the large number of proxies, it is common for the election to be
decided before the AGM starts so challengers who rely on getting
support at the AGM have already lost before they give their speeches
and the ballots are collected.
Meeting notice
The board or the management company should send out a notice to all
owners stating that the AGM will be held on a certain date and that
there will be an election for the required number of directors. The
notice
should state if any of the open positions are for the owner-occupied
position.
Finally, the notice should state that any owners who wish to be a
candidate should inform management, in writing, by a certain date and
their names and their resume will be included in the AGM information
package.
However, they may ignore election etiquette and just include the names
of the incumbents and any new candidates that they want to win.
Altering a resume
At a Scarborough condo, where the vast majority of owners were Chinese, the board altered a candidate's resume that
was part of the AGM Information Package by removing the Chinese text
from his resume that could be read by 65% of the owners that can't
read English. After he complained, a second information package was
mailed to all the owners.
Proxy forms
This notice, which was posted on the elevators
at an Etobicoke condo, though most likely was written with good intentions, was not correct.
Candidates who do not inform the office in time, will not have their
resumes included in the AGM information package, but ideally, the proxy
form will not have any names written on it. It should be up to the
owners to write in the names of the candidates they want their proxies
to vote for in the blank spaces provided.
Acceptable, but not ideal, is when the names of those who submitted
their names as candidates have their names listed on the proxy form,
(in alphabetical order), and blank spaces have been included so that
candidates can add their names to the proxy and canvass other owners for their
proxies.
Also acceptable is when an undeclared candidate makes out his own
proxy form, using the sample form on the ministry's website, or has
stroked out the names that were pre-printed on the management company's
proxy form,
fills in his name, photocopies the form and canvasses for proxies.
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