Our HOA has no more board candidates than open seats. Do we still have to hold an election?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 4, 2026

Uncontested HOA board election? What Texas, Florida and Colorado require when candidates equal or fall short of open seats, with sample minutes and a timeline.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

It depends on the state, and the three states most small self-managed boards work under give three different answers. Florida says no election is required unless more candidates are nominated than there are vacancies. When the qualified candidates equal or fall short of the open seats, and floor nominations are not required, those candidates take their seats whether or not the annual meeting reaches a quorum (Fla. Stat. 720.306(9)(a)). Texas goes the other way. Any director whose term has expired must be elected by the owners, whatever the governing documents say (Tex. Prop. Code 209.00593(a)), so the vote still happens, though the law makes it lighter: written and signed ballots are not required for uncontested races (209.0058(c)). Colorado's statute says nothing about acclamation. It requires a secret ballot only for contested seats (C.R.S. 38-33.3-310(1)(b)(I)(A)), so an uncontested Colorado race usually runs however the bylaws say, often a single motion at the annual meeting. Rules vary by state and by each community's governing documents. This is education, not legal advice. Read your bylaws before you skip any step, and ask the association's attorney if they seem to conflict with the statute.

Confirm the race is really uncontested

A race is uncontested only after the nomination window has closed and you have checked every name. Work through it in this order. Count the seats: the terms ending this year, plus any seat held by someone appointed to a vacancy, since an appointee serves only the rest of the unexpired term (209.00593(a) in Texas, and 720.306(9)(c) in Florida unless the bylaws say otherwise). Close nominations on the date you published, not the day the board gets tired of waiting. Check eligibility. In Florida, a person who is delinquent on any fee, fine or other money owed the association on the last day to be nominated may not run and must be left off the ballot, and some felony convictions bar a candidate (720.306(9)(b)). Then read the bylaws on floor nominations. If owners may nominate from the floor, the race is not settled until the chair closes nominations at the meeting. Here is how the count can change. Three seats and three returned candidate forms looks uncontested. If one of those Florida candidates owed a $75 fine on the nomination deadline, you have two qualified candidates for three seats, and a different problem, covered below.

Florida: seat the candidates and put it in writing

When 720.306(9)(a) applies, there is nothing to vote on. Write-in nominations are not permitted, and the qualified candidates begin serving on the board even if the annual meeting falls short of its quorum, which is 30 percent of the voting interests unless the bylaws set a lower number (720.306(1)(a)). Hold the annual meeting anyway if your bylaws call for one, and have the chair announce the result on the record. Announce it to owners in writing too, and date the notice, because any challenge to the election process must be started within 60 days after the results are announced. Each new director then has 90 days after being elected to file a certificate showing completion of the state-approved education for new directors (720.3033(1)(a)). A director who misses the deadline is suspended until the certificate is filed, and the association keeps each certificate for owners to inspect for 5 years. Put the 90th day on the board calendar the night of the meeting. Directors seated without a vote are the ones who forget, because nothing about the process felt like an election.

Texas: hold the vote, but keep it light

Texas boards cannot declare candidates elected by acclamation and skip the owners, and an appointment that breaks 209.00593 is void (209.00593(c)). What you can do is run a short vote. Send the meeting notice no fewer than 10 and no more than 60 days before the meeting (209.0056(a)). If the association has more than 100 lots, the call for candidates still goes out at least 10 days before any ballots, with a response deadline at least 10 days after the call (209.00593(a-1)). You only learn the race is uncontested after that window closes, so the call is never optional. At the meeting, the owners can elect the slate by a show of hands or a voice vote, since signed ballots are not required for an uncontested race. The catch is quorum. Absentee and electronic ballots count toward quorum only for the items on the ballot (209.00592(b)(1)), so even in a quiet year, send a one-page absentee or electronic ballot listing the candidates, with the warning paragraph section 209.00592(c) requires on absentee ballots. It costs a stamp or an email and protects the meeting. A floor nomination does not void those ballots, because Texas does not treat it as an amendment to the proposal (209.00592(b-1)). If quorum fails anyway, the sitting directors keep serving. Texas Business Organizations Code section 22.208(b) holds a director in office until a successor is elected when the documents set no term, and most bylaws say the same.

Colorado: follow the bylaws and be ready to switch

Colorado sets the owner quorum at 20 percent of the votes that may be cast for the executive board, unless the bylaws provide otherwise (C.R.S. 38-33.3-309(1)). With a quorum, an uncontested slate can be elected by motion if the bylaws allow it. Two rules can turn a quick motion into a ballot. First, the board, or 20 percent of the owners present in person or by proxy, can require a secret ballot on any matter all owners vote on (38-33.3-310(1)(b)(I)(B)). Second, a floor nomination makes the seat contested, and contested seats need a secret ballot counted by a neutral third party or by owner volunteers who are not directors or candidates, picked by the chair at the open meeting (38-33.3-310(1)(b)(I)(C)). Print blank ballots and line up two likely counters before the meeting, so a surprise nomination costs ten minutes, not a second meeting. If the meeting fails to reach quorum, C.R.S. 7-128-105(5) keeps each director serving until a successor is elected and qualifies.

When there are fewer candidates than seats

Elect or seat everyone who qualified, then deal with the empty seat on its own. In Florida, unless the bylaws say otherwise, the remaining directors can fill a vacancy by majority vote, even if they are less than a quorum (720.306(9)(c)). Texas is the harder case. The board may appoint someone to fill a vacancy, but a seat whose term expired must be filled by an owner vote, and an appointment in violation is void. Do not appoint a volunteer to a seat that just went unfilled in the election until your attorney has told you whether your documents and the statute treat it as a vacancy. A second call for candidates and a short special election is the cleaner path in Texas. In Colorado, read the bylaws' vacancy clause, and remember that an incumbent whose term ended keeps serving until a successor qualifies. Whatever the state, start recruiting the week after the meeting. Our guide on how to recruit HOA board candidates covers the personal ask that works better than a newsletter notice.

A sample calendar and wording you can copy

A Texas association with 120 lots, three open seats and a March 10 annual meeting: January 12, the call for candidates goes out by mail and email with a January 26 deadline. January 27, the secretary confirms three eligible candidates for three seats. February 6, the meeting notice and a one-page absentee ballot listing the three names go out, 32 days before the meeting. March 10, the chair confirms quorum, asks for floor nominations if the bylaws allow them, and takes the vote. March 11, the results go to every owner. A Florida association can follow the same calendar, skip the absentee ballot and announce the slate as seated. Motion for the Texas or Colorado minutes: There being three candidates for three open seats and no further nominations, I move that Pat Lee, Sam Ortiz and Jordan Webb be elected to the board for two-year terms ending at the 2029 annual meeting. Florida minutes: Nominations closed on January 26 with three qualified candidates for three open seats. Under section 720.306(9)(a), Florida Statutes, no election is required, and Pat Lee, Sam Ortiz and Jordan Webb began serving on the board as of this meeting. Owner notice: The board election this year was uncontested. Three owners ran for three open seats, and Pat Lee, Sam Ortiz and Jordan Webb will serve two-year terms. Thank you to everyone who volunteered. Our guide on how to run an HOA board election covers the full process for a year when the race is contested.

Mistakes boards make

A Texas board copies a Florida template and declares the slate elected without a vote. That leaves an argument that the new directors were never elected, and every decision they make after that is open to attack. A board skips the call for candidates because nobody ever runs, then finds out a newcomer would have. Send the call every year. A board forgets that its bylaws allow floor nominations and announces the result in the newsletter before the meeting. Wait until nominations close at the meeting. A Florida board seats a candidate who owed a late fee on the nomination deadline. Pull the ledger for every candidate as of that date. And nobody updates the paperwork. Change the bank signers, the officer list and any state filing that names directors within a month, just as you would after a contested race. If your annual meeting keeps missing quorum, our guide on what to do when the HOA annual meeting won't reach quorum covers what the board can and cannot do without the owners.

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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