Governor Doug Ducey has vetoed a bill would have barred homeowner association members from pooling their voting rights to elect a single board member, multiple news sources report.
The bill [HB2321], sponsored by Rep. Ken Clark (D-24), had passed both chambers unanimously, but in his veto message, Ducey said it isn’t government’s role to regulate how homeowner associations vote.
The Arizona Constitution states members of associations in elections for directors or managers have the right to cast as many votes in aggregate as entitled, multiplied by the number of directors or managers to be elected.
An HOA is a common interest organization to which all the owners of lots in a planned community must belong. Similarly, a UOA is a common interest organization to which all owners of a unit in a condominium must belong. The four defining characteristics of all HOAs and UOAs are: 1) all owners are automatically members; 2) governing documents create mutual obligations; 3) mandatory fees or assessments are generally levied against owners and used for the operation of the association; and 4) owners share a property interest in the community (A.R.S. §§ 33-1202, 33-1802).
