Compliance overview
Civil Code sections 5100 through 5145 govern how a California homeowners association runs an election. This page states what each section requires in plain English and links the official text, so you can check every sentence here against the statute itself.
We are not attorneys and this is not legal advice. It is a description of what the statute says. For advice about your association, talk to your association's counsel.
§ 5100 · Which votes must go to secret ballot
Four categories of vote must be held by secret ballot: assessments that legally require a member vote, election and removal of directors, amendments to the governing documents, and grants of exclusive use of common area. A board seat goes to a vote when its term expires and at least once every four years. There is no exemption for small associations.
“Notwithstanding any other law or provision of the governing documents, elections regarding assessments legally requiring a vote, election and removal of directors, amendments to the governing documents, or the grant of exclusive use of common area … shall be held by secret ballot in accordance with the procedures set forth in this article.”California Civil Code § 5100
§ 5103 · Election by acclamation
If the number of qualified candidates is no greater than the number of open seats, the board may seat them without mailing ballots, provided the association held a regular election within the prior three years, gave the required nomination notices, and sent a reminder notice between 7 and 30 days before the nomination deadline listing the candidates qualified so far.
Heads up. Changing 1 January 2027: AB 1892 cuts the initial notice from 90 days to 30.
§ 5105 · Election rules, and the 90-day freeze
Your association must adopt election operating rules covering nominations, candidate qualifications, voting procedure and the method of selecting the inspector. Two traps live here. The rules cannot be amended less than 90 days before an election, so a board that hires an inspector late may be stuck with rules that do not authorise what it wants. And subdivision (i) excludes regular and special assessment votes from electronic balloting entirely.
§ 5110 · Who may serve as inspector, and what they must do
The association selects one or three independent third parties as inspector. The statute lists nine duties, and makes the inspector's written report prima facie evidence of the facts it states. This is the section that disqualifies your management company.
“An independent third party may be a member, but may not be a director or a candidate for director or be related to a director or to a candidate for director. An independent third party may not be a person, business entity, or subdivision of a business entity who is currently employed or under contract to the association for any compensable services other than serving as an inspector of elections.”California Civil Code § 5110
§ 5115 · Notices, ballots and the quorum rescue
Thirty days before the nomination deadline, general notice of how to nominate. Thirty days before ballots go out, general notice of the return address and deadline, the count meeting, and the full candidate list. Ballots then go by first-class mail with two preaddressed envelopes. If your governing documents require a quorum and it is not met, the association may call a reconvened meeting at least 20 days later at which the quorum drops to 20 percent.
§ 5120 · The count happens in public
Ballots are counted by the inspector in public, at a properly noticed open meeting, and any member may witness it. Once the inspector receives a secret ballot it is irrevocable. A member cannot ask for it back to change their vote. The tabulated result must be reported by general notice within 15 days.
“Once a secret ballot is received by the inspector or inspectors of elections, it shall be irrevocable.”California Civil Code § 5120
§ 5125 · Custody of the ballots
The inspector keeps custody of the sealed ballots, signed voter envelopes, voter lists, proxies and candidate registration lists until after tabulation and until the challenge window in § 5145 has closed: one year. Custody then transfers to the association. Holding the ballots is part of the job, not an add-on you should be billed separately for.
§ 5145 · What happens if the election is challenged
A member has one year to bring an action. If they do, the court must void the result unless the association proves the violation did not affect the outcome; the burden sits on the association, not the challenger. A prevailing member gets attorney fees and costs, and the court may impose up to $500 per violation. The association recovers nothing unless the action was frivolous.
Last reviewed September 23, 2026. California HOA election law changes most years. § 5110 was amended effective 1 January 2025, and § 5103 changes again on 1 January 2027.