Texas HOA Voting Rules: Ballots, Quorum, and Recounts

Texas HOA voting rules come primarily from Chapter 209 of the Texas Property Code, the Residential Property Owners Protection Act. The statute sets who can vote, who can run for the board, how notice must be given, how ballots are cast and counted, what it takes to pass a measure, and what you can do if you think the count was wrong or the board simply refuses to hold elections. These state-level rules override any conflicting language in your community’s bylaws or declaration, so reading them is at least as important as reading your own governing documents.

Your Right to Vote Cannot Be Taken Away

Section 209.0059 voids any provision in an HOA’s governing documents that would disqualify a property owner from voting in a board election or on any matter involving owners’ rights and responsibilities.¹ The board cannot strip your vote because you are behind on assessments, have an open violation, or have criticized how the neighborhood is run. Ownership is the trigger, not standing with the board.

Each lot typically carries one vote regardless of how many names are on the deed. Co-owners have to work out among themselves how that single vote gets cast. One narrow exception exists for subdivisions of 10 or fewer lots whose declarations were recorded before January 1, 2015: in those, a person may vote only if they are actually subject to the governing documents.¹

Who Can Run for the Board

Section 209.00591 voids restrictions on an owner’s right to run for the board, with limited exceptions.² Bylaws may require that some board members live in the subdivision, but they cannot require every board member to live there. In a multi-section subdivision, the association can designate specific seats to represent a section and require those members to live in the section they represent.

Two disqualifications are hard-coded. Two people who live together at the same primary residence cannot serve on the board at the same time, unless the community has fewer than 10 homes. And if the board receives documented evidence from a government law enforcement database showing that a member was convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude within the past 20 years, that person is immediately removed and barred from future service.²

Notice Deadlines for Elections and Votes

Written notice of an election or owner vote must go out at least 10 days but no more than 60 days before the event.³ For an association-wide election, every owner must receive the notice. For a representative election, only the owners entitled to vote in that particular election need notice. Section 209.0056 controls, so any shorter or longer window buried in the bylaws does not apply.

If the election or vote is happening outside of a formal meeting, the timeline is different: notice has to go out at least 20 days before the last date a ballot can be submitted.³ Meetings held under this section may use electronic or telephonic methods so long as the notice deadline is met.

How You Can Cast a Vote

Texas recognizes three ways to exercise your voting right: in person or by proxy at a meeting, by absentee ballot, or by electronic ballot if the association allows it.⁴ Your governing documents may add procedures on top of the statute, but they cannot take these methods away.

Proxy

A proxy appoints someone else to vote for you at a meeting. A general proxy lets your proxy holder decide how to vote; a directed proxy tells the holder how to vote on specific items. Some associations use combination forms. Check your bylaws for any limits on who can act as proxy and how long the authorization lasts.

Absentee and Electronic Ballots

Under Section 209.00592, absentee and electronic ballots must describe each proposed action or candidate and give you the ability to vote for or against each item. Each ballot must also include a notice explaining that if you attend the meeting in person, your in-person vote replaces the ballot you already submitted.⁵ Most associations also require your property address and signature to confirm identity. A ballot missing the statutory disclosures or a verifying signature can be tossed during the count.

Quorum and the Vote Needed to Pass

A vote is not valid unless the meeting first hits quorum. Your bylaws set the number. If they say nothing, the default under the Business Organizations Code (which most HOAs fall under as nonprofit corporations) is one-tenth of the voting interests. Fall short of quorum and the meeting has to be rescheduled; any votes taken are legally void.

Once quorum is reached, routine business and board elections pass by a simple majority of votes cast. Amending the declaration is different. Section 209.0041 requires an affirmative vote of at least 67 percent of the total votes allocated to owners entitled to vote on the amendment, plus any governmental approval the law requires. If the declaration sets a lower threshold, the declaration’s number controls; if the declaration is silent, the 67 percent default applies to owners of 67 percent of the lots.⁶

Who Counts the Ballots

Section 209.00594 prohibits anyone who is a candidate in the election, or who is otherwise the subject of the vote, from tabulating or even accessing the ballots. The prohibition extends to anyone related to that person within the third degree by blood or marriage.⁷ Only a person who is not disqualified may count. Boards that ignore this rule expose the entire election to challenge.

Associations may adopt secret ballots. If they do, the statute requires three safeguards: no member can cast more votes than they are entitled to, every eligible vote must actually be counted, and each board candidate may name one observer for the count who is not allowed to see which ballot came from whom.⁸ Any owner can propose a secret-ballot policy if the association does not already use one.

Demanding a Recount

Section 209.0057 gives any owner the right to demand a recount. The deadline is the 15th day after the later of the meeting date or the date the results were announced.⁹ The demand must be in writing, sent by verified mail or USPS signature confirmation to the association’s mailing address on its management certificate, or delivered in person to the managing agent.

The association then has 20 days to estimate the recount cost and send you an invoice. You must pay it in full within 30 days of when it is sent, or the demand is treated as withdrawn.⁹ The statute does not cap the amount; the estimate reflects the actual cost of hiring a qualified outside person to redo the count. After the recount, the association reconciles: if the real cost came in lower you get a refund, and if it came in higher you owe the difference, which can be added to your account as an assessment. The person performing the recount cannot be an association member or related to any board member within three degrees.

When the Board Refuses to Hold an Election

The board is required to hold an annual membership meeting. If it does not, Section 209.014 gives owners a self-help path. Any owner can demand in writing, by certified mail with return receipt requested, that the board call a meeting within 30 days.⁷ The demand goes to the association’s registered agent and to the address on the most recent management certificate, with a copy to every property owner in the community.

If the 30 days pass without a meeting being called, three or more owners can form an election committee and file written notice of its formation with the county clerk in each county where the subdivision sits.⁷ This is the statute’s failsafe against a board that insulates itself from accountability by simply not calling elections, and it is used far less often than it could be.

Communities Still Under Developer Control

These rules look different in newer communities where a developer still controls the association. Section 209.00591(c) lets the declaration establish a developer control period during which the developer or its designees may appoint and remove board members, aside from any positions owners have already elected.² Once 75 percent of the lots that may be created under the declaration have been sold to non-developer owners, at least one-third of the board must be elected by those owners within 120 days, regardless of what the declaration says.

The cohabitation restriction on board members does not apply to the developer or people living with the developer during this period, and residency requirements for board seats do not take effect until the development period ends.² If you have bought into a community still under developer control, track how many lots have been sold. That number determines when you actually get representation on the board.

1
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 209.0059 – Right to Vote
2
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 209.00591 – Board Membership
3
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 209.0056 – Notice of Election or Association Vote
4
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 209.00593
5
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 209.00592
6
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 209.0041 – Adoption or Amendment of Certain Dedicatory Instruments
7
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 209 – Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act
8
State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 209.0058 – Ballots
9
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 209.0057 – Recount of Votes