Central Park HOA in Lakewood Ranch switches to e-voting

Forty-five percent of households have opted in, higher than any previous rate of voter participation

By Brendan Lavell
| 9:10 a.m. September 23, 2020

(From left)Gene Gelpke, Harry Benas, RC Bartley and Brian Biery discuss Central Park's e-voting system at an outdoor pavilion in the community. Bartley and Biery are board directors. Gelpke and Benas are subcommittee volunteers.

East County
News

Before the pandemic, convincing people to turn out for an HOA vote in Central Park was like convincing a 5-year-old to sit still for a tetanus shot.

A handful of residents in Central Park at Lakewood Ranch knew the pandemic would make that reality far worse and would hinder any progress by their HOA if they didn't seek a change. It was time to find a new way to increase voter participation.

So the HOA turned to electronic voting, and thanks in part to an effective marketing campaign, 45% of households (one vote per household) in Central Park have signed up, a figure higher than any past participation. It’s been so successful the community will continue to use e-voting for elections, referendums and surveys after the pandemic ends.

The idea for e-voting in Central Park also was borne out of a desire to reduce expenses, according to resident Harry Benas. Past HOA elections required papers to be sent through the mail. In addition, it was difficult to attain the 25% household turnout required by the neighborhood’s declarations for annual elections and other referendums, let alone the two-thirds majority required to change any declarations.

Gene Gelpke, a volunteer member of various subcommittees in Central Park, researched a few different e-voting options, deciding on HOAst as the one that most closely matched the community’s needs and wants. The annual licensing fee is $1,013.

HOA members have been impressed by the community's reaction. They are hoping to get 80% to 90% of the households signed up.

“Then we can get a true representation of how the community feels,” Benas said. “So that when we do surveys, we'll get a good cross-section of the community, not just the ones that are avid internet users.”

One aspect the HOA had to keep in mind was making sure the format was compatible with the voting criteria established in the community’s declarations. With paper voting, it was straightforward. But the HOA used a lawyer to help them analyze each requirement with respect to e-voting.

Many HOA declarations require paper voting. However, Florida’s state legislature realized the problem this could pose during the pandemic and issued Statute 720.317, which overrides those declarations and allows for e-voting if it meets certain requirements.