Question: Do voting tally sheets only apply to secret ballot motions at general meetings? Can owners check how members voted for a committee meeting motion, or is that information not considered an official body corporate record?
Answer: The minutes tell you what the group has decided, and that is what matters.
Committee meetings are open forums in that any owner can attend and watch them, so members’ voting patterns aren’t usually a secret. When recording a vote, totals are usually recorded rather than how each individual voted.
There may be exceptions to this, but it is the final tally that counts. If you have online voting during meetings of VOCs with paper or online voting, the records of those votes would be part of the body corporate records, and you can track voting that way, if necessary. Secret ballot tally sheets record the number of yes, no and abstain votes, but they don’t record the names against these – that’s the secret part.
I have some concerns about owners tracking individual member’s votes. Maybe it’s feasible and there is a good reason, but it’s important to respect that people have the right to vote as they see fit and, ultimately, it is the majority rule that abides. The minutes tell you what the group has decided, and that is what matters.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924