55-79.77 - Same; voting.

§ 55-79.77. Same; voting.

A. The bylaws may allocate to each unit depicted on plats and plans thatcomply with subsections A and B of § 55-79.58 a number of votes in the unitowners' association proportionate to the undivided interest in the commonelements appertaining to each such unit.

B. Otherwise, the bylaws shall allocate to each such unit an equal number ofvotes in the unit owners' association, subject to the following exception:Each convertible space so depicted shall be allocated a number of votes inthe unit owners' association proportionate to the size of each such space,vis-a-vis the aggregate size of all units so depicted, while the remainingvotes in the unit owners' association shall be allocated equally to the otherunits so depicted.

C. Since a unit owner may be more than one person, if only one of suchpersons is present at a meeting of the unit owners' association, that personshall be entitled to cast the votes appertaining to that unit. But if morethan one of such persons is present, the vote appertaining to that unit shallbe cast only in accordance with their unanimous agreement unless thecondominium instruments expressly provide otherwise, and such consent shallbe conclusively presumed if any one of them purports to cast the votesappertaining to that unit without protest being made forthwith by any of theothers to the person presiding over the meeting. Since a person need not be anatural person, the word "person" shall be deemed for the purposes of thissubsection to include, without limitation, any natural person havingauthority to execute deeds on behalf of any person, excluding naturalpersons, which is, either alone or in conjunction with another person orpersons, a unit owner.

D. The votes appertaining to any unit may be cast pursuant to a proxy orproxies duly executed by or on behalf of the unit owner, or, in cases wherethe unit owner is more than one person, by or on behalf of all such persons.No such proxy shall be revocable except by actual notice to the personpresiding over the meeting, by the unit owner or by any of such persons, thatit be revoked. Except to the extent otherwise provided in the condominiuminstruments, any proxy shall be void if it is not dated, or if it purports tobe revocable without notice as aforesaid. The proxy of any person shall bevoid if not signed by a person having authority, at the time of the executionthereof, to execute deeds on behalf of that person. Any proxy shall terminateafter the first meeting held on or after the date of that proxy or any recessor adjournment of that meeting. The proxy shall include a brief explanationof the effect of leaving the proxy uninstructed. To the extent thecondominium instruments or rules adopted thereto expressly so provide, a voteor proxy may be submitted by electronic transmission, provided that any suchelectronic transmission shall either set forth or be submitted withinformation from which it can be determined that the electronic transmissionwas authorized by the unit owner or the unit owner's proxy.

E. If 50 percent or more of the votes in the unit owners' associationappertain to 25 percent or less of the units, then in any case where amajority vote is required by the condominium instruments or by this chapter,the requirement for such a majority shall be deemed to include, in additionto the specified majority of the votes, assent by the unit owners of a likemajority of the units.

F. All votes appertaining to units owned by the unit owners' associationshall be deemed present for quorum purposes at all duly called meetings ofthe unit owners' association and shall be deemed cast in the same proportionsas the votes cast by unit owners other than the unit owners' association.

(1974, c. 416; 1980, c. 108; 1991, c. 497; 1993, c. 667; 1998, c. 32; 2003,c. 442.)