HOW DO YOU PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE IF YOU LIVE OUT OF THE STATE OR COUNTRY? By Eric Glazer, Esq.

LOTS OF COMPLAINTS THIS YEAR ABOUT PEOPLE NOT GETTING THE CHANCE TO VOTE BECAUSE THE MAIL IS SLOW. HOW DO YOU PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE IF YOU LIVE OUT OF THE STATE OR COUNTRY?

By Eric Glazer, Esq.

This year I am hearing the following complaint more than ever before: I live out of the state, or out of the country and I never received a ballot to vote in the election.

A little over a year ago I was involved in a case where many owners who lived in Finland did not get their ballots timely.  Instead of having their vote not count, someone who lived in the condominium e-mailed them the ballot.  These owners then took that ballot, placed it in a ballot envelope, placed that ballot envelope in another envelope and signed the exterior, and mailed it back to the association usually by overnight mail.  Some owners didn’t bother to use the interior ballot envelope.

The association didn’t want to count these votes.  The association also didn’t want to count the votes of owners who had their ballot envelopes dropped off by a neighbor, claiming that this was voting by proxy.

Read the attached opinion to find out how the arbitrator ruled.  It makes for interesting reading.  The bottom line…….if you’re out of town…..have the ballot e-mailed to you.

To read the case, click here.

About HOA & Condo Blog

Eric Glazer graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community association law for more than 2

decades and is the owner of Glazer and Sachs, P.A. a seven attorney law firm with offices in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and satellite offices in Naples, Fort Myers and Tampa.

Since 2009, Eric has been the host of Condo Craze and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs at noon each Sunday on 850 WFTL.

See: www.condocrazeandhoas.com

He is the first attorney in the State of Florida that designed a course that certifies condominium residents as eligible to serve on a condominium Board of Directors and has now certified more than 10,000 Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a Circuit Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the best interest of Florida community association members.