Q My question is about being elected to the board of a condo association in  Quincy, MA. We have a building management company hired by our board. Can the  management company executive be elected to the board? And does this executive  have any influence in running the election and/or meeting for the election? Can the incumbent members of the board use the proxy forms—the only forms allowable to secure votes—one month before they hand out these forms to those who are seeking election to  replace those incumbent members?  

 —Questioning in Quincy  

A “The condominium documents control who may serve as a member of the governing  board. Most condominium documents do not contain any qualifications as to who may  serve, except that it be a natural person,” explains attorney Janet Aronson from the law firm of Marcus, Errico, Emmer and  Brooks, PC in Braintree, MA. “So in most associations, anyone can serve as a board member, including a  management company executive. However, unless the management company executive  is a unit owner at the condominium, it would be very unusual for such person to  serve (or want to serve) as a member of the board.  

 “With regard to management’s influence in the election—the election process and meeting of unit owners are to be run in accordance with  the requirements of the condominium documents, if any such requirements exist,  and also as determined by the governing board. In most cases, the management  company with the authority and direction given by the board, is involved in the facilitating the meeting including, preparation and mailing of the meeting notices and proxies, running the meeting and  tabulation of ballots, etc. Therefore, the management company is involved in  the procedural process of carrying out the meeting and election.  

 “As noted above, the board is vested with the authority to run the meeting of the  unit owners to carry out the business of the association, including the  election of board members. The purpose for the use of proxy is to enable an  owner that is unable to attend a meeting in person, to still have the  opportunity to participate in the meeting and vote on the matters that are  presented at the meeting. The proxy form itself is a written document whereby a  unit owner authorizes another to represent and act on his/her behalf at the  meeting. That being said, it is within the authority of the board to set  reasonable requirements with regard to the use of proxies. For example,  mandating that a certain proxy form be used or only allowing unit owners to use  the form sent to them—are reasonable controls to ensure the integrity of the proxy process. Clearly,  proxy forms should be distributed or made available to all unit owners at the  same time so that all unit owners have an equal opportunity to campaign in this  regard.