Elections Committee report details process, results of 2020 OPA Board election

(Sept. 14, 2020) The Ocean Pines Elections Committee this year saw a slight increase in voter participation percentage and successfully held an election with a new balloting system, according to a committee report released this week.  

The committee held nine meetings from Nov. 2019 to Aug. 2020.  

On May 20, Association Secretary Camilla Rogers sent the committee a letter confirming three candidates met qualifications for the 2020 Board of Directors election: Doug Parks, Colette Horn and Stuart Lakernick. 

A candidate draw held by the committee on June 12 set the ballot order as Horn, Parks and Lakernick, and three candidates met for an Elections Committee forum on June 17. 

Election results, announced on Aug. 7 and validated during a special Board meeting on Aug. 12, saw the re-election of incumbent directors Parks (2,206 votes) and Horn (1,801 votes). Lakernick finished third, with 1,149 votes, and was not elected.  

Additionally, on the ballot this year was a question on the "Possible Use of Future Electronic Voting." Most, 65.8% (1,581 votes), said they would support electronic voting, while 34.2% (822 votes) were not in favor.  

"Consistent with the results of the survey question on possible future electronic voting, the EC will investigate options for future balloting systems," the report said.  

A total of 6,975 ballots were mailed to homeowners in good standing, and 2,769 ballots were counted by an Elections Committee contractor, using the new hardware and software system. The committee manually invalidated 20 ballots, including 18 returned "marked improperly or [with] comments on [the] ballot" and two because of improper envelopes.  

Including 162 ballots received after the voting deadline, the total return rate was 42.2%. That compares favorably to a year ago, when the ballot return rate was 39.3%.  

The committee this year adopted a new balloting system, according to the report, because of the "obsolescence of the Scantron system" and the move by Ocean Pines to new Northstar software systems.  

Committee members developed a set of requirements and explored several options, and later created a cost-benefit analysis to weigh those options. Eventually, the Snap Survey operating system was selected and "performed as expected," according to the report. 

The total cost for the 2020 election was $18,174, or $6,826 below the $25,000 amount budgeted. 

On the election, the report notes "This was an unusual year as residents were given until August 1 to pay assessments; however, OPA By-Laws require that if the assessments were not paid as of July 1, residents are ineligible to vote in the election. This situation caused confusion among residents and generated a number of calls to the election committee line." 

Also unusual, the report said, was the number of late ballots.  

"... there were 162 total ballots received after the deadline. In comparison, for 2019, 46 ballots were received after the deadline," the report said.  

The report also listed two "Issues Encountered and Recommendations for Changes": 
 

• "The Election Committee encourages the Board to communicate what constitutes voter eligibility in elections and how to ensure an account is in good standing. 
• “There were three candidates for two Board openings this year; the by-laws state there should be four for two openings. The situation necessitated a need to extend the deadline for candidates; the compression of deadlines made it difficult for the committee to complete our mission. In planning the 2021 election process the EC will review all timelines to ensure a smooth process." 

To view the report, visit /documents/20124/82691/2020-09-12%20Election%20Committee%20Report%20%20FINAL.pdf/f9570a63-6852-084c-4462-a946da470bca.