5105.
(a) An association shall adopt rules, at least 90 days before any election, in accordance with the procedures prescribed by Article 5 (commencing with Section 4340) of Chapter 3, that do all of the following:(1) Ensure that if any candidate or member advocating a point of view is provided access to association media, newsletters, or Internet Web sites during a campaign, for purposes that are reasonably related to that election, equal access shall be provided to all candidates and members advocating a point of view, including those not endorsed by the board, for purposes that are reasonably related to the election. The association shall not edit or redact any content from these
communications, but may include a statement specifying that the candidate or member, and not the association, is responsible for that content.
(2) Ensure access to the common area meeting space, if any exists, during a campaign, at no cost, to all candidates, including those who are not incumbents, and to all members advocating a point of view, including those not endorsed by the board, for purposes reasonably related to the election.
(3) Specify the procedures for the nomination of candidates, consistent with the governing documents.
(b)An association may only disqualify a member from nomination pursuant to the following:
(1)An association may disqualify a candidate for not being a member at the time of the nomination.
(2)Through its bylaws only, an association may disqualify
a member if, within the past 20 years, the member has been convicted of a felony involving accepting, giving, or offering to give, a bribe, the embezzlement of money, the extortion or theft of money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes. For purposes of this paragraph, “conviction of a felony” includes a conviction of a felony in this state and a conviction under the laws of any other state, the United States, or any foreign government or country of a crime that, if committed in this state, would be a felony, and for which the person has not received a pardon from a person or entity authorized to grant the pardon.
(3)Through its bylaws only, an association may require a nominee for a board seat, and an incumbent board director during his or her board tenure, to be current in the payment of regular assessments, which are
consumer debts subject to validation. If an association requires a nominee to be current in the payment of regular assessments, it must also require an incumbent board director to be current in the payment of regular assessments.
(A)Before disqualifying a nominee for alleged nonpayment of regular assessments, the association shall validate the debt using the internal dispute resolution process set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 5900) of Chapter 10.
(B)The association’s validation of the debt shall be completed before the association’s deadline for submitting a nomination.
(C)A disqualifying debt includes regular assessments and interest owed the association. Fines, fines renamed as assessments, collection charges, late charges, or other costs levied by a third party are not disqualifying debts.
(D)If an association fails to convene a timely session under Article 2 (commencing with Section 5900) of Chapter 10 or fails to validate the debt in the session, the nominee shall be named a candidate for election to the board.
(4) Specify the voting power of each membership, the authenticity, validity, and effect of proxies, and the voting period for elections, including the times at which polls will open and close, consistent with the governing documents.
(5) Specify a method of selecting one or three independent third parties as inspector or inspectors of elections utilizing one of the following methods:
(A) Appointment of the inspector or inspectors by the board.
(B) Election of the inspector or inspectors by the members of the association.
(C) Any other method for selecting the inspector or inspectors.
(6) Allow the inspector or inspectors to appoint and oversee additional persons to verify signatures and to count and tabulate votes as the inspector or inspectors deem appropriate, provided that the persons are independent third parties.
(7) Ensure that the meeting at which ballots are counted is held on association property and accessible to all members or their representatives who want to witness the tabulation. tabulation and is held on association property or, if no common area exists, at a location within a reasonable distance from association property.
(8) Require notice to be provided of all of the following:
(A) The date and time by which, and the physical address where, ballots are to be returned by mail or handed to the inspector or inspectors of elections.
(B) The date and location of the meeting at which ballots will be counted.
(C) The procedure and deadline for submitting a nomination, which shall be provided at least 30 days before that deadline.
(D) The list of all candidates’ names that will appear on the ballot, which shall be provided at least 30 days before the ballots are distributed.
(E) The list of all voters by either name or parcel number, and voting power.
(9) Require any errors or omissions to the list of candidates’ names or list of voters to be immediately reported to the inspector or inspectors and require necessary corrections to be made within two business days.
(b) An association may only disqualify a member from a nomination pursuant to the following:
(1) An association may disqualify a candidate for not being a member at the time of the nomination.
(2) Through its bylaws only, an association may disqualify a member if, within the past 20 years, the member has been convicted of a felony
involving accepting, giving, or offering to give, a bribe, the embezzlement of money, the extortion or theft of money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes. For purposes of this paragraph, “conviction of a felony” includes a conviction of a felony in this state and a conviction under the laws of any other state, the United States, or any foreign government or country of a crime that, if committed in this state, would be a felony, and for which the person has not received a pardon from a person or entity authorized to grant the pardon.
(3) Through its bylaws only, an association may require a nominee for a board seat, and an incumbent board director during his or her board tenure, to be current in the payment of regular assessments, which are consumer debts subject to validation. If an association requires a nominee to be current in the payment of regular assessments, it shall also require an incumbent board director to be
current in the payment of regular assessments.
(A) Before disqualifying a nominee for alleged nonpayment of regular assessments, the association shall validate the debt using the internal dispute resolution process set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 5900) of Chapter 10.
(B) The association’s validation of the debt shall be completed before the association’s deadline for submitting a nomination.
(C) A disqualifying debt includes regular assessments and interest owed the association. Fines, fines renamed as assessments, collection charges, late charges, or other costs levied by a third party are not disqualifying debts.
(D) If an association fails to convene a timely session under Article 2 (commencing with Section 5900) of Chapter 10 or
fails to validate the debt in the session, the nominee shall be named a candidate for election to the board.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the rules adopted
pursuant to this section may provide for the nomination of candidates from the floor of membership meetings or nomination by any other manner. Those rules may permit write-in candidates for ballots.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the rules adopted pursuant to this section shall do all of the following:
(1) Prohibit the denial of a ballot to a member for any reason other than not being a member at the time when ballots are distributed.
(2) Prohibit the denial of a ballot to a person with general power of attorney for a member.
(3) Require the ballot of a person with general power of attorney for a member to be counted if returned in a
timely manner.
(4) Require the inspector or inspectors of elections to deliver, or cause to be delivered, at least 30 days before an election, to each member both of the following documents:
(A) The ballot or ballots.
(B) A copy of the election operating rules. Delivery of the election operating rules may be accomplished by either of the following methods:
(i) Posting the election operating rules to an Internet Web site and including the corresponding Internet Web site address on the ballot together with the phrase, in at least 12-point font: “The rules governing this election may be found here:”
(ii) Individual delivery.