Recommendation to Villas Board from Nominating and Elections Committee
Russ Soderberg, President of Villas HOA Board:
The Nominating and Election Committee has been exploring the use of electronic voting to avoid the pandemic risk to our homeowners during our traditional in-person vote counting process. We have found that Cadden has teamed with Steve Spain of Sotol Technologies to provide an electronic voting platform used by two Cadden HOAs (Catalina Shadows and Sky Ranch) in the recent past.
However, Cadden has not developed an electronic voting solution that could be used by its other HOAs. The Sotol platform is being applied on an ad hoc basis when an HOA indicates an interest in electronic voting. The lack of an established relationship between Sotol and Cadden as well as the lack of backup should Steve Spain, the sole employee of Sotol Technologies, become incapacitated is worrisome.
While electronic voting through Cadden is not yet well developed, it has the potential to increase voting efficiency and to drive a quorum, although at a cost of $325. An HOA driven by minimizing cost might choose to forgo electronic voting until there is clear advantage that justifies the cost.
During the exploration of electronic voting, the Committee learned that Cadden has been counting paper ballots for many of its other HOAs, and would count our paper ballots at no incremental cost. This service could replace our traditional in-person vote counting, and thereby reduce the pandemic risk to our homeowners.
The Committee has concluded that:
- In 2021 the Villas should vote by paper ballot, and those ballots should be processed (verified and counted) by Cadden.
- The Board should budget for electronic voting in 2022.
- The Board should change the By Laws to allow for electronic voting in 2022.
- The Board should encourage Cadden to develop a robust product offering for electronic voting.
These actions will reduce the pandemic risk to our volunteers in 2021 and will set the stage for a possible transition to electronic voting in 2022.
Best regards,
Brian Hooker
Chairman, Nomination and Election Committee