Question: BCM claims that our service provider received the majority of votes for renewal of the contract at the AGM. They state that they destroyed the ballots and never handed them to the returning officer as they were secret. I contend that this makes the ballot invalid. Am I wrong or right?
Answer: Voting at a body corporate meeting can be a challenging process, with many moving parts.
I couldn’t possibly be definitive based on your short description of the situation.
What I would say, though, is that voting at a body corporate meeting can be a challenging process, with many moving parts. If one part does not go according to legislation, or appears not to, then that does not automatically mean the result is invalid. It might, for example, depend on how the numbers went at the meeting. If the vote was 90 ‘yes’ and 2 ‘no’, then it’s extremely unlikely the allegedly ‘destroyed’ votes would make a difference. Then again, if the vote was 47 ‘yes’ and 45 ‘no’, then that’s a very different story. I recommend you consider this aspect of the situation before taking any further action.
Note that you have 3 months after the meeting in which to challenge the result. You would need to demonstrate, based on objective evidence, which part of legislation was not complied with, in your view.
This post appears in Strata News #616.
Chris Irons Strata Solve E: chris@stratasolve.com.au P: 0419 805 898