Free HOA Voting Ballot Template
A ballot for a homeowners association is the easy part. What usually invalidates an HOA vote is not the ballot design — it is quorum, proxies, or who was allowed to see how a neighbour voted. This template covers the ballot, then the four things worth checking before you send it.
The ballot
Copy this structure into a document, or build it directly in TapVoter.
Board President
One seat. List each candidate; add "Write-in" only if your bylaws permit it.
Board Vice President
One seat.
Board Treasurer
One seat. Some associations require a candidate statement for this role.
Board Member — at large
State the number of seats plainly, e.g. "Vote for up to 2 of 5 candidates".
Bylaw amendment
Yes / No. Quote the amendment text in full, or attach it — a summary is usually not sufficient.
Special assessment
Yes / No. State the amount per lot, the purpose, and the payment schedule.
Suggested method — Approval voting for multi-seat rows, single choice for the rest. Approval voting lets an owner support several candidates for a multi-seat board without splitting the vote, and it is simple to explain at an annual meeting. Yes/No rows for amendments and assessments should stay single choice so the threshold in your bylaws applies cleanly.
Before you send it out
These are the things that decide whether a result holds up when someone questions it. They vary by organisation and, in some cases, by jurisdiction — so treat each as a prompt to check your own governing documents, not as advice about your situation.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Requirements differ by jurisdiction and by your own governing documents. If the vote is contested or consequential, have someone qualified confirm the method before you open voting — challenges after a result are far more expensive than a review beforehand.
Quorum, and what counts toward it
Check whether your governing documents set a quorum for owner votes, and whether returned proxies count toward it — many do, but not all. Check whether your declaration counts a submitted ballot, a proxy, or physical attendance — associations have had elections voided for reaching a quorum on the wrong basis. Decide this before you open voting, because it determines how hard you need to chase turnout.
One vote per lot, not per person
Check whether your governing documents attach voting rights to the lot or unit rather than to the individual — where they do, a couple who jointly own one home share one vote, and an owner of three units may hold three. Build your voter list from the ownership roll rather than a resident or mailing list, and decide in advance how you handle a jointly owned lot where the owners disagree.
Proxies and absentee ballots
Check whether your documents allow proxies and, if so, what they require — a prescribed form, a deadline, and whether an owner voting directly revokes a proxy are all common conditions. Online voting does not remove that requirement — it changes how you collect it. Decide whether a proxy holder votes on the owner’s behalf using the owner’s credential, or holds a credential of their own.
Secret ballot requirements
Some US states require board elections to be conducted by secret ballot, and some prescribe a specific envelope or inspector procedure. Check whether your state does. If your association is subject to such a rule, confirm that whatever you use can satisfy it, and ask your platform exactly who can see how an owner voted — not whether it is "anonymous", but who has access. TapVoter records ballots with no voter identifier attached; the limits of that are set out on our anonymous voting page.
Common questions
Is an online HOA vote valid?
That depends on your governing documents and your state statute, not on the platform. Many associations have adopted electronic voting by amendment; others are required to offer a paper option, or to follow a specific inspector procedure. Check your declaration and bylaws first, and if the vote is contentious, have counsel confirm the method before you open it rather than after someone challenges the result.
How many votes do we need to pass a special assessment?
Your governing documents set the threshold, and it may be higher than a simple majority. Check in particular whether it is measured against the total membership or only against those voting. Note the difference: a two-thirds-of-all-owners threshold means non-voters effectively count as No, which changes how much turnout chasing you need to do.
Can we see how each owner voted?
You should assume you should not, and in several states you must not for board elections. If you run the vote on TapVoter, the ballot record carries no voter identifier — no name, email, key or IP — and voter exports deliberately omit voting times so the two cannot be joined. Be aware that an administrator can still see roughly when each owner voted in the admin interface.
Is the ballot template free?
Yes. Copy the structure below into any document, or run the whole election on TapVoter free for up to 10,000 voters, with no per-door or per-election fee.
Run it as a real election, free
Build this ballot in TapVoter and every voter gets their own key, nobody votes twice, and the ballot record carries no voter identifier. Free for up to 10,000 voters.