WA: How should a tied vote for chairperson be resolved in a 4 lot strata?

This article discusses how, under WA strata law, a tied 2–2 vote in a four-lot scheme means no decision is made because simple majority voting rules for strata council WA require more than 50% support, so a chairperson cannot be elected or retain the role without three votes.

Question: In a 4-lot strata, how should a tied vote for chairperson be decided when all four owners are on the council?

We are a small strata of four units in WA, and all four lot owners are on the council of owners. All owners are financial. The current chairperson is also the treasurer and has held these positions for more than 10 years.

I would like to nominate for the chairperson role. In the past, when we have voted on office bearer positions, the chairperson/treasurer has retained the role on their own vote plus the secretary’s vote. The other two owners did not support that outcome, so it was a 2–2 split.

For example, when electing the chairperson, there might be 2 votes for person X and 2 votes for person Y. As a 4-lot scheme, what should happen when there is a 50/50 vote for an office bearer position? How should a tied vote for chairperson be resolved, and does the current chairperson have any greater say than the rest of us in a deadlock?

Answer: In a 4 unit scheme, if there is a 50/50 vote in a council of owners meeting, a simple majority has not been reached.

When the council of owners meet, a vote is decided as per the Schedule 1 Governance bylaws noted below as a simple majority vote:

8. Meetings of council

1. At meetings of the council, all matters must be determined by a simple majority vote

For a motion to pass, it requires a simple majority voting in favour of the motion. This means that more than 50 per cent of eligible owners who are present in person or by proxy must cast their vote in favour of the motion. The chairperson cannot retain the position. The position must be filled after each Annual General Meeting at the first meeting of the council of owners, and they can only be elected if they have more than the majority (i.e., more than 50%). This means that unless 3 of the 4 owners agree, they cannot hold the position as they have not received a majority vote. In a 4 unit scheme, if there is a 50/50 vote in a council of owners meeting, a simple majority has not been reached.

Jamie Horner
Empire Estate Agents
E: JHorner@empireestateagents.com
P: (08) 9262 0400

This post appears in the February 2026 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

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Read next:

• WA: Q&A Counting votes and attendance when one owner has more than one lot
• WA: Q&A If the budget stays the same, do we need to vote on and approve the levies at the AGM?
• WA: Q&A Votes, the Voting Period and Unit Entitlements

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