How does our HOA board decide which ballots count when some are late, unsigned or filled out wrong?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 11, 2026

How an HOA board decides which ballots count: late, unsigned, duplicate and overvoted ballots, Texas, Florida and Colorado rules, and a rejection log.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

Write your ballot rules down and adopt them before a single ballot goes out. Apply them the same way to every envelope, and log each ballot you set aside with the reason. Fights after an HOA vote are rarely about the arithmetic. They are about the few ballots somebody chose not to count, and when they chose. Some questions are already settled by statute. Florida throws out late ballots and disqualifies every ballot from a lot that sends two. Texas lets an owner's in-person vote replace an absentee ballot. Everything else comes from your bylaws and the rules the board adopts. Rules vary by state and by each community's governing documents, so treat this as general education, not legal advice, and call the association's attorney when a disputed ballot could change the result.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado already decide

Texas. Property Code 209.0058(a) requires a written, signed vote in a board election, on amending a dedicatory instrument, on raising the regular assessment or adopting a special assessment, on removing a director, and on any vote cast outside a meeting. Electronic ballots under 209.00592 count as written and signed, and uncontested races need no signed ballots. Section 209.00592(b) adds three rules for absentee and electronic ballots. They count toward quorum only for the items printed on them. They are not counted if the owner shows up and votes in person, because the in-person vote wins. They are not counted on a motion that was amended at the meeting, although a nomination from the floor is not an amendment. Section 209.0059(a) also voids any document clause that would bar an owner from voting in a board election, so a Texas board generally cannot set aside a ballot because the owner is behind on dues. Florida. Section 720.306(8)(b) sets the envelope routine when the governing documents allow secret ballots from members who are not at the meeting. The ballot goes in a blank inner envelope, inside an outer envelope showing the member's name, the lot and the owner's signature. If the voter is eligible and no other ballot came in for that lot, the inner envelope joins the ballots cast in person. If more than one ballot arrives for a lot, all of them are disqualified, and any ballot received after balloting closes may not be considered. Under 720.305(4) and (5), the board may suspend the vote of a parcel more than 90 days delinquent, but only by approval at a properly noticed board meeting followed by written notice to the owner. A suspended vote is subtracted from the total used for quorum and approval thresholds. Colorado. C.R.S. 38-33.3-310(1)(b) requires a secret ballot for contested board seats, counted by a neutral third party or by volunteer owners picked at an open meeting who are not directors or candidates. Section 310(2)(c) lets the association reject a ballot or proxy when the person counting, acting in good faith, has a reasonable basis to doubt the signature or the signer's authority. Subsections (2)(d) and (e) shield that good-faith call from damages and keep the result valid unless a court rules otherwise. Under 310(4), no votes may be cast for a unit the association owns.

Adopt a ballot rule sheet first

One page, adopted at an open board meeting, mailed with the ballots and attached to the minutes. It should answer these questions before anyone has a reason to argue about them: - Deadline. Give a date, an hour and a delivery address, and say the ballot must be received by then. Postmarks invite arguments, so don't count them. - Signature. Who may sign for a lot, and what written authority you accept from a trustee, an LLC manager or an agent under a power of attorney. Our guide on who casts the vote when a home has co-owners or an LLC owner covers that part in detail. - Valid marks. Any mark that clearly shows the voter's choice counts, whether a check, an X or a filled circle. - Overvotes and blanks. Marking more candidates than open seats voids that one race on that ballot, and the rest of the ballot still counts. A blank race is no vote. - Missing information. An outer envelope with no signature or no lot number is set aside unopened. - Electronic ballots. In Texas, 209.00592(d) requires that the owner's identity can be confirmed and that the owner can get a receipt. - Changed minds. Say whether an owner may pull back a ballot and send a new one before the deadline. In Florida, a second ballot for the same lot disqualifies both, so tell owners to call the secretary rather than mail another one.

Count day: sort before you open

From the day ballots go out, log each envelope: date and time received, lot number, and who logged it. Keep the envelopes sealed and locked up. On count day the tellers check every outer envelope against the eligibility roster before opening anything. Is the signer an owner of record or an authorized agent? Is the lot listed, and only once? Did it arrive before the deadline? In Florida, is the parcel's vote suspended by a board action taken before the meeting? Each envelope goes into one of three piles: accepted, rejected or questioned. Settle every questioned envelope before any inner envelope is opened. Once a secret ballot leaves its outer envelope it cannot be traced back, so a late decision to reject it is impossible. Then open the accepted inner envelopes together, count twice and compare. Watch who handles the paper. Texas 209.00594 bars a candidate, or anyone related to a candidate within the third degree, from counting or even seeing the ballots. In Colorado, directors may not count contested board ballots at all.

Keep a rejection log

Write one line per set-aside ballot: lot, reason, who decided and when. A line might read: 'Lot 47. Outer envelope unsigned. Set aside unopened by both tellers, 7:05 p.m.' Use short reason codes: late, unsigned, no lot number, duplicate, signer not an owner, vote suspended. Announce the results with the rejected count by reason, for example '112 ballots received, 106 counted, 4 late, 2 unsigned.' Then keep everything. Florida 720.303(4)(a)12 makes ballots, sign-in sheets, proxies and other voting papers official records that must be kept at least one year after the vote. Colorado 38-33.3-317(1)(n) also sets one year. Texas has no ballot-specific retention period in 209.005(m), but any owner may demand a recount within 15 days of the meeting or the announcement of results under 209.0057(b), and Florida allows 60 days to challenge an election under 720.306(9)(a). Holding the ballots, envelopes and log for a year is the simple rule everywhere.

Sample rule text and motion

Rule text the board can adapt: '1. A mailed or hand-delivered ballot counts only if the association receives it at 410 Cedar Lane by 5:00 p.m. on March 10, 2027. Postmarks do not count. 2. The outer envelope must be signed by an owner of record of the lot or by a person whose written authority is on file with the secretary. An unsigned envelope is set aside unopened. 3. If a ballot marks more candidates than there are open seats, no vote counts in that race on that ballot. Votes on other items still count. 4. The tellers decide any question about a mark or a signature by majority, in good faith, and record each decision in the rejection log.' In Texas, add the in-person rule from 209.00592(b). In Florida, add that two ballots from one lot are both disqualified. Motion: 'I move that the board adopt the 2027 ballot rules as presented, apply them to the March 12, 2027 annual meeting, mail them with the ballots, and attach them to these minutes.'

A sample timeline

For an annual meeting on March 12: - January 26: The board adopts the ballot rules and names tellers who are not running. - February 9: Ballots and the rule sheet go out. The secretary starts the receiving log. - March 10, 5:00 p.m.: Balloting closes. Late arrivals are logged and kept sealed. - March 12: Tellers sort envelopes into three piles, settle the questioned pile, then open and count. - March 13: Results go to all owners with the rejected count by reason. - March 28: The Texas recount demand window closes, 15 days after the announcement. - May 12: The Florida 60-day challenge window closes. - March 2028: Ballots, envelopes and the log may be destroyed if no dispute is pending. Adjust the dates to your bylaws. Our guide on how to run an HOA board election covers candidate calls and notice deadlines.

Mistakes that start election fights

Making the rule after seeing the ballot. A board that decides at 7 p.m. whether to count one late envelope has already lost the argument, whichever way it goes. Fixing some ballots and not others. If the secretary calls one owner to sign an unsigned envelope before the deadline, every owner with the same problem gets the same call. Otherwise, call no one. Throwing out ballots from delinquent owners. In Texas, 209.0059 voids the document clause that would allow it. In Florida, the vote counts unless the board suspended it at a noticed meeting before the vote. Counting Texas absentee ballots on an amended motion. Keep the owner vote to the exact wording printed on the ballot. Shredding the set-aside pile on the way out. The rejected ballots are the ones a challenger will ask to see first.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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