Two candidates tied for the last seat in our HOA board election. What does the board do now?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 5, 2026

What to do when an HOA board election ends in a tie: confirm the count, check the bylaws, and run a runoff, with Texas, Florida and Colorado rules and a timeline.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

Do not pick a winner at the table. Confirm the count, read your bylaws for a tiebreaker, and if they are silent, hold a runoff between the tied candidates only. Florida condominium associations have the only written runoff rule of the three big states: unless the bylaws provide otherwise, the association must hold a runoff, mail or hand-deliver notice within 7 days of the tied election, and hold the runoff 21 to 30 days after it (Fla. Admin. Code 61B-23.0021(10)(c)). Florida HOAs under chapter 720, Texas and Colorado have no tie statute, so the governing documents decide. In Texas, a board that settles the tie by voting one candidate into a seat whose term expired risks an appointment the statute calls void (Tex. Prop. Code 209.00593(a) and (c)). Candidates who beat the tie are elected as normal. Only the contested last seat waits. Rules vary by state and by your declaration and bylaws, and this guide is education, not legal advice.

Recount before you call it a tie

A tie in a small community usually comes down to one or two ballots that someone misread or set aside. Before announcing anything, have the same counters go through every ballot a second time, in the room, with the tied candidates or their observers watching. Set aside every ballot that was rejected for a missing signature, a duplicate lot, or a vote from someone who also voted in person, and confirm each rejection against the written rule that justifies it. In Texas, a ballot that was absent or electronic does not count if the owner later voted in person at the meeting (209.00592(b)(2)), and a board election ballot must be in writing and signed unless the race is uncontested (209.0058(a) and (c)). In Colorado, the association may reject a ballot or proxy if the person counting has a good-faith, reasonable doubt about the signature (C.R.S. 38-33.3-310(2)(c)). Mind who touches the ballots. Texas bars a candidate, or a relative within the third degree, from counting or seeing the ballots (209.00594(a)). Colorado requires contested seats to be counted by a neutral third party or by owner volunteers who are neither directors nor candidates, chosen by the chair at the open meeting (38-33.3-310(1)(b)(I)(C)). If the second count still ties, announce the tie on the record and adjourn the question.

Read the bylaws for a tiebreaker

Search the bylaws and any election rules the board adopted for "tie", "runoff", "lot" and "plurality". Some older bylaws say a tie is broken by drawing lots or a coin flip. If yours do, follow the clause exactly, do it at the open meeting with both candidates present, and record who drew and what happened. If the bylaws are silent, do not invent a method on the spot. A coin flip that no document authorizes is an easy election challenge, and the loser's supporters will remember it at every meeting for the next two years. A candidate may choose to step aside. Get that in writing, signed and dated, and have the minutes reflect that the remaining candidate takes the seat because the other withdrew, not because the board decided. Never have the board president cast an extra deciding vote in an owner election. Nothing in these statutes gives the president one, and in Texas the owners, not the board, must fill a seat whose term ended.

Who sits in the seat until the runoff

The seat is not empty while you sort this out. Nonprofit corporation law in all three states keeps the outgoing director in office until a successor is elected and takes office, unless the governing documents say otherwise: Fla. Stat. 617.0805(4), C.R.S. 7-128-105(5), and in Texas, Bus. Orgs. Code 22.208(b) when the certificate of formation and bylaws set no term. Most Texas bylaws do set terms, so look there for a clause saying directors serve until their successors are elected. Where holdover applies, the incumbent keeps voting at board meetings until the runoff, even if the incumbent is one of the tied candidates or did not run. Tell the board this at the first meeting after the tie so nobody counts the board one short or questions the quorum. Keep the holdover period short. A holdover who lost interest or is one of the tied candidates is in an awkward spot, and the board should avoid big, divisive votes until the seat is settled. The results stand for the seats that were decided, and new directors elected outright take office on the schedule in your bylaws.

How to run the runoff

Treat the runoff as a small special election with one seat and two names. Florida condominium boards must follow the rule: notice to the voters within 7 days of the tied election, the runoff 21 to 30 days after that election, only the tied candidates on the ballot, a ballot that meets the rule, and copies of any candidate information sheets they already submitted. Florida HOAs and Colorado associations can borrow that schedule as a sensible default, adjusted to whatever notice period the bylaws set for a special meeting. In Texas, give written notice of the vote no earlier than the 60th day and no later than the 10th day before the meeting (209.0056(a)), use written and signed ballots, offer at least one of absentee ballot, proxy or electronic ballot (209.00592(a-1)), and use a counter who is not a candidate or a relative. In Colorado, use a secret ballot because the seat is contested (38-33.3-310(1)(b)(I)(A)) and report the result without naming how anyone voted. Everywhere, reuse the eligible voter list from the first election unless your bylaws fix the record date differently, so a lot that sold last week does not turn into a fight.

Wording you can copy

Minutes entry: 'The tellers recounted all ballots for the third board seat in the presence of both candidates. The recount confirmed 41 votes for Candidate A and 41 votes for Candidate B. The chair announced that the election for the third seat is tied. The bylaws do not provide a tiebreaker. Under the bylaws and the association's election rules, the board will hold a runoff limited to Candidates A and B. The director whose term ended today continues to serve until the runoff winner takes office.' Notice to owners: 'The November 3 election for the third board seat ended in a tie, confirmed by recount. A runoff between the two tied candidates will be held on November 24 at 7 p.m. in the clubhouse. A ballot and each candidate's information sheet are enclosed. Owners who voted in the first round may vote again. The two seats already decided are not affected.' Adjust names, dates and the counting method to your documents.

A sample timeline

Using a Tuesday, November 3 election as the example. Election night: recount in the room, record the tie, announce the runoff plan, and keep every ballot sealed and labeled. By November 10: mail or deliver the runoff notice, which is the 7-day deadline for Florida condominiums. Florida's 21-day minimum puts the earliest runoff on November 24 and the 30-day maximum puts the latest on December 3. A Texas association that notices the runoff on November 10 can hold it any time from November 20, the tenth day, on, so November 24 works there too. Runoff night: count with neutral counters, announce the winner, and seat the new director. Within a month: update bank signers and officer lists if anything changed. In Texas, an owner may demand a recount of either round by written demand within 15 days after the later of the meeting or the results announcement, at the owner's cost, done by a qualified person such as a current or former county judge or county elections administrator, and reimbursed if the result changes (209.0057). Board action taken before a Texas recount is finished stands either way (209.0057(d)).

Mistakes that turn a tie into a dispute

Letting the sitting board vote on which candidate gets the seat. Flipping a coin the bylaws never mention. Recounting in a back office with one candidate's spouse holding the box. Throwing ballots away after the first count, when a runoff or a challenge will want them. Opening the runoff to new candidates, which turns a two-person runoff into a fresh election the notice never described. Re-running every seat instead of just the tied one. Waiting until spring, which leaves a holdover in place for months. And forgetting the challenge clock: in Florida HOAs, any challenge to the election process must start within 60 days after the results are announced, and disputes go to binding arbitration with the state division or to court (Fla. Stat. 720.306(9)(a) and (c)). For the counting mechanics that prevent most ties from becoming fights, see our guide on how an HOA counts election ballots. If a board motion, rather than an owner election, splits evenly, our guide on what happens when an HOA board vote is a tie covers that case.

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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