HOA elections in California run on a rigid statute for a reason: the people counting the votes are often the people on the ballot. Civil Code sections 5100 to 5145 set who can run, who counts, how ballots travel, and how long a member has to challenge the result. Plan backwards from the day ballots are counted and every step has a date.
Under Civil Code §5105, election operating rules may not be amended less than 90 days before an election. If your rules need work, that work happens first.
Seven topics, adopted as operating rules, and locked 90 days before the vote.
Civil Code section 5100 says elections on assessments that legally require a vote, the election and removal of directors, amendments to the governing documents, and grants of exclusive use of common area must be held by secret ballot under the statute's procedure. It also requires an election for a board seat when that director's term expires, and at least once every four years.
Section 5105 then requires the association to adopt election operating rules, using the operating rule procedure that starts at Civil Code section 4340. The rules must cover:
The 90 day freeze. Section 5105 says election operating rules shall not be amended less than 90 days prior to an election. Treat that as the first date on your calendar, not the last.
Any member can run. The statute lists the few reasons you may say no.
One more safeguard: the association may not disqualify anyone from nomination without first giving them the opportunity to engage in internal dispute resolution. If the board plans to rely on an assessment delinquency, offer that meeting early enough to finish before the nomination deadline.
Whatever qualifications you adopt belong in the election rules before the 90 day freeze, applied the same way to every candidate.
One or three independent people, and never a director, a candidate, or the manager.
Civil Code section 5110 requires one or three inspectors, and they must be independent third parties.
Who qualifies. The statute gives examples of independent third parties, including a volunteer poll worker with the county registrar of voters, a licensee of the California Board of Accountancy, and a notary public. A member of the association may serve, as long as the member is not a director, a candidate for director, or related to a director or candidate.
Who does not. A person, business entity, or subdivision of a business that is currently employed or under contract to the association for any compensable services other than serving as inspector may not serve. That excludes your management company and your regular vendors.
What the inspector does. The inspector determines the number of memberships entitled to vote, decides the authenticity and effect of proxies, receives the ballots, oversees any electronic voting, counts and tabulates every vote, and determines the result.
Three separate 30 day clocks, and each one starts a different step.
The double envelope. The unsigned ballot goes into a sealed envelope, inside a second sealed envelope that the voter signs and marks with the address or lot. The inspector separates them before anyone sees a ballot.
How long nominations stay open. Section 5115 sets the notice before the nomination deadline. It does not set a minimum length for the nomination window itself, so put the window in your election rules.
Quorum. If a director election fails to reach the quorum your governing documents or Corporations Code section 7512 require, and your documents do not authorize a lower quorum for a reconvened meeting, section 5115 lets the association adjourn to a date at least 20 days later, where the quorum to elect directors is 20 percent of the members.
About five months if you want the option of acclamation, three if you do not.
Count backwards from the day the inspector counts the ballots. Each date below is the latest the statute allows.
The election details notice has to list every candidate, so the nomination deadline must close before that notice goes out. A board that wants a cushion should start a month earlier.
In public, by the inspector, and kept until the one year challenge window closes.
Counting, section 5120. The inspector counts and tabulates all votes in public at a properly noticed open meeting of the board or the members. Any candidate or other member may watch. Within 15 days of the election, the board must give general notice of the tabulated results. Because the count happens at a board meeting, the notice and agenda rules in our guide to HOA board meeting notice in California apply to it.
Custody, section 5125. The sealed ballots, signed voter envelopes, voter list, proxies, candidate registration list, and tally sheet stay with the inspector, or at a location the inspector designates, until after the count and until the time allowed by section 5145 to challenge the election has expired. Then custody transfers to the association. Members may inspect the ballots and tally sheet on written request, and any recount must protect the secrecy of the vote.
Challenges, section 5145. A member may sue for declaratory or equitable relief within one year of the date the inspector notifies the board and membership of the results. A court can void the election, impose a civil penalty of up to $500 for each violation, and award a prevailing member reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
No association money for campaigns, section 5135. Association funds may not be used for campaign purposes in a board election. That includes featuring a candidate's photo or name prominently in an association communication within 30 days of the election, except where equal access rules require it.
Removing a director. Section 5100 puts the removal of directors under the same secret ballot procedure, and section 5115's nomination notice applies to recall elections. Ask counsel what vote your association needs to remove a director.
Yes, but only if the board did the extra notice work months in advance.
Civil Code section 5103 lets the association treat qualified candidates as elected by acclamation when there are no more qualified candidates than open seats. Every condition must be met:
Miss the 90 day initial notice and the association runs a full election.
This page summarizes California law as we understand it. It is written for orientation, not for reliance.
Statutes change, courts interpret them, and your governing documents may impose stricter or different requirements than the Act does. Nothing here creates an attorney client relationship, and no summary can account for the facts of your community. Before your board adopts election rules, disqualifies a nominee, or declares an acclamation, confirm the plan with your association's legal counsel.
HOA180 is not a law firm and does not practice law. Where this page states a specific number of days or dollars, we have taken it from the current Civil Code section cited alongside it; where the Act does not set a number, we have said so rather than supply one.
Statutes cited: Civil Code section 5100, Civil Code section 5103, Civil Code section 5105, Civil Code section 5110, Civil Code section 5115, Civil Code section 5120, Civil Code section 5125, Civil Code section 5135, Civil Code section 5145.
Last reviewed October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will check it.
Most owners who read this page are not on their board. A short, polite note to the people who are can make the next election smoother for everyone. Copy this, change the name, and send it.
Hi [board president's name],
I came across a plain English guide to California HOA election rules, with a backwards timeline from the ballot count, and I thought it might help the board plan our next election: {URL}
It also mentions a service that answers homeowner questions any hour from our own CC&Rs and rules, with a full custom community website included, for $89 a month with a free 30 day trial and no minimum term. I am not asking for anything, I just thought it might save the board some time. Happy to talk about it at the next meeting.
Thanks for the work you put in,
[your name], [your street]
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