Q Our Massachusetts condo complex is composed of three phases with a separate board for each phase. In two of the phases, the board is elected at the annual meeting with a secret ballot. In my phase, the last of the three, unit owners are required to sign their name and unit number on the ballot before being checked in at the meeting. This requirement was not in the condo docs, but was passed by the board about two years ago. (Unit owners are afraid to vote for anyone not on the current board as their life would not be worth living). Many unit owners are unhappy with this situation, but havebeen afraid to complain to the board. Also, only one unit owner, appointed by the board, counts the ballots; in the past there were three. I feel it is not an election when it is not a secret ballot.

A few questions: Is it legal to require unit owners to sign their ballots? Is this election legal under Massachusetts law? Is there a state statute that prescribes howcondo elections are to be administered?

If the election as it's currently run is not legal, what is the best way to remedythe situation? Register a complaint with the condo board, a state agency, or file a legal action?

— Frustrated

A The short answer to your questions is that the two phasesthat use “secret ballots” are doing it wrong – and the process used in your phase that requires unit owners both to sign the ballots and to identify their respective unit numbers on the ballots is the correct process.

Although Massachusetts’ condominium statute does not prescribe the nitty-gritty details as to how board elections are to be administered, the statute is absolutely crystal clear in that voting must be tabulated based upon each unit’s percentage of beneficial interest. In most instances, the only way in which to tabulate each unit’s percentage of beneficial interest is to know for certain which ballot submitted pertains to which unit.

The use of “secret ballots” keeps secret that which the statute does not permit – knowing the percentage of beneficial interest appurtenant to each ballot for tabulation purposes. Furthermore, althoughnot specifically identified in the statute, election ballots probably fall under the type of administrative records that should be kept as part of the association’s records for all unit owners to inspect under the statute (thereby eliminating any possible vote-counting controversies).

— Joe Saurino, Esq.