Proxies, quorum and weighted votes, explained

Voting rules are the part of association life nobody reads until a vote is close. Then everyone is an expert. A fee increase passes by two votes, someone points out that one proxy wasn't dated, and the meeting spends half an hour arguing about whether the result stands.

The rules themselves are not complicated. They do differ between countries and between bylaws, which is why the first step is always the same: read yours before the meeting, not during it.

Who gets a vote, and how much it weighs

There are three common models. One member, one vote, where every member counts equally whatever the size of their flat. Voting by ownership share, where a vote counts in proportion to the member's share of the association or company. And voting by floor area, which works the same way but uses square metres.

Which one applies depends on the country and on your bylaws. In a Swedish bostadsrättsförening the default is one vote per member. Finnish housing companies vote by shares by default, so a large flat carries more weight than a studio. Estonian apartment associations commonly give each apartment owner one vote, though the bylaws can set a different rule. Under any model, some decisions may need more than a simple majority, such as changing the bylaws or the way costs are split. Check what applies to you before you count anything.

A worked example

Take a small building with six flats voting on a €40,000 facade repair, where the bylaws weight votes by ownership share.

Counted by heads, the repair passes three to two. Counted by share it also passes, 46% to 36%, but only because of C1's proxy. If that proxy turns out to be invalid, the repair fails 24% to 36%. This is the vote where somebody will examine the proxy, so it is worth examining it yourself at the door.

What makes a proxy valid

Bylaws and national rules vary, but a proxy that will survive scrutiny is usually in writing, signed and dated by the member, names the person who will vote, and identifies the flat. Some countries limit how long a proxy stays valid or how many members one person may represent. In Sweden, for example, many bostadsrättsförening bylaws say a proxy is valid for at most a year, and by default a proxy holder can represent only one member. Your bylaws may also restrict who can act as a proxy, for instance another member or a close relative.

A proxy can be general (“vote as you see fit”) or instructed (“vote yes on item 9”). Instructed proxies are cleaner for contentious items. For a member to give one, the agenda has to be specific enough to instruct on, which is another reason to send the full motions with the notice.

Quorum, and why many associations don't have one

Quorum is the minimum attendance needed for a meeting to make valid decisions. People who come from company boards or sports clubs often assume every general meeting has one. Many housing associations in the Nordics have no quorum rule for an ordinary general meeting at all: whoever turns up to a properly called meeting makes the decisions. Others set one in their bylaws, often as a share of the total votes rather than a head count.

If your bylaws do set a quorum, record the represented voting weight at the start of the meeting and again before any vote taken after a break, because people leave. If quorum is not reached, the bylaws usually say what happens next, often a second meeting where the requirement is lower or removed.

Counting on the night

For a weighted vote, a show of hands is only enough when the result is obvious either way. Otherwise, print the voting list with each flat's weight, call the flats in order and record each answer. It takes about ten minutes for sixty flats. Ask two people to count independently and compare. Read the result out with the numbers: “Yes 54.2%, no 31.0%, abstained 3.1%, of 88.3% represented.” Put the same numbers in the minutes.

Abstentions deserve a sentence in the chair's briefing. Depending on the bylaws, a majority may be counted of votes cast, which ignores abstentions, or of votes represented, which in effect counts them as no. Agree which applies before the vote, not after the result is known.

Kelvo Nest records attendance and proxies, weights each flat's vote by ownership share or area, checks quorum and produces a printable protocol of the result. The help centre shows how meetings and votes work.