Florida Association Election Checklist

Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA
Founder & Managing Shareholder

Checklist
Published September 26, 2026
Reviewed by Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA, September 26, 2026
Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026
Applies to: Condominiums · HOAs · Cooperatives

Elections are lost on the calendar more often than at the ballot box. Chapters 718 and 719 impose a fixed 60-day sequence that cannot be shortened; Chapter 720 imposes almost nothing and hands the job to your governing documents. This checklist runs the sequence backward from the annual meeting date and marks each item for the chapter that requires it.

Download the PDFThe PDF is a designed, printable copy for the board packet, the bulletin board or your meeting portfolio. On screen, you can tick the boxes below; nothing you tick is saved or sent anywhere.

Work it backward. Put the annual meeting date on the calendar first, then count back 60, 40, 35 and 34 days and put those four dates on the calendar too. Everything else hangs off them.

Items marked [Condo/Co-op] come from Chapters 718 and 719, which run the same statutory sequence. Items marked [HOA] come from Chapter 720, which does not. If you are running a condominium election, use the fuller condominium election checklist instead of this one.

The backward-planning sequence

Day 0. Fix the annual meeting date from the bylaws and write it on the calendar. [Condo] The regular election must occur on the date of the annual meeting.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.a.
Day minus 60. [Condo/Co-op] Mail, deliver or electronically transmit the first notice of the date of the election to every owner entitled to vote.It may go by separate mailing or be included in another association mailing, including a regularly published newsletter. Sixty days is a floor, not a target; build in slack for a printer delay.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.a.; § 719.106(1)(d)1.a.
Day minus 40. [Condo/Co-op] Close the window for written notices of intent to be a candidate, and log the date and time each one arrived.A candidate must be eligible to serve at the time of this deadline, not at the election. Someone who cures a delinquency on day 39 is still off the ballot.§ 718.112(2)(d)3. and (2)(d)5.a.; § 719.106(1)(d)1.a.
Day minus 35. [Condo/Co-op] Close the window for candidate information sheets, which the candidate must furnish, no larger than 8 1/2 by 11 inches.The association pays the mailing, delivery, transmission and copying costs, is not liable for the contents, and may print them on both sides to save money.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.a.; § 719.106(1)(d)1.a.
Day minus 34 to day minus 14. [Condo/Co-op] Mail, deliver or electronically transmit the second notice of election, the annual meeting notice and agenda, the ballot listing all candidates, and the information sheets, as one package.Not less than 14 days and not more than 34 days before the election. Sending it on day 35 is as defective as sending it on day 13.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.a.; § 719.106(1)(d)1.a.
Day minus 14. [HOA] Mail, deliver or electronically transmit notice of the annual meeting, and have the person who sent it execute the affidavit for the official records.Chapter 720 supplies no 60-day or 40-day step. HOA elections are conducted in accordance with the procedures in the governing documents, so your own documents may impose a longer sequence than the statute.§ 720.306(5); § 720.306(9)(a)

Candidate eligibility screening

Confirm the candidate owns a unit or parcel, or otherwise qualifies under your documents, and screen every name before the ballot is printed, not after.
Screen for delinquency. A person delinquent in any monetary obligation to the association is not eligible and may not be listed on the ballot.[Condo] A person is delinquent if payment is not made by the due date specifically identified in the declaration, bylaws or articles; if none is identified, the due date is the first day of the assessment period. [HOA] A director who becomes more than 90 days delinquent is deemed to have abandoned the seat.§ 718.112(2)(d)3.; § 719.106(1)(d); § 720.306(9)(b)
Screen for felony convictions. A person convicted of a felony is ineligible unless civil rights have been restored for at least 5 years as of the date the person seeks election.[Condo] If it later turns out a director was ineligible because of a felony, the validity of board action already taken is not affected.§ 718.112(2)(d)3.; § 719.106(1)(d); § 720.306(9)(b)
[Condo/Co-op] Screen for co-owners of the same unit running at the same time. In an association of more than 10 units they may not serve together unless they own more than one unit or there are not enough eligible candidates.§ 718.112(2)(d)3.; § 719.106(1)(d)
[Condo] Screen for the 8-year term limit. A board member may not serve more than 8 consecutive years unless approved by two-thirds of all votes cast in the election, or unless there are not enough eligible candidates.Only board service on or after July 1, 2018 counts toward the limit.§ 718.112(2)(d)3.
[Condo] Screen for anyone suspended or removed by the Division under Chapter 718.§ 718.112(2)(d)3.
Put every eligibility determination in writing, with the date and the document you relied on, before you tell the candidate.Disqualifying a candidate is the decision most likely to draw a challenge. Decide it with counsel, in writing, and keep the file. See our note on candidate eligibility.
Count candidates against vacancies. If the number of candidates does not exceed the number of vacancies, no election is required and the candidates take office at the adjournment of the annual meeting.§ 718.112(2)(d)3.; § 720.306(9)(a)

Preparing the ballot

[Condo/Co-op] List all candidates on the ballot. The statute does not authorize a blank ballot or a write-in line.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.a.; § 719.106(1)(d)1.a.
Order the names as the Division rule requires, and do not group, star, endorse or annotate any candidate on the ballot or in the association's own mailing.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
[Condo/Co-op] Confirm the ballot is a written ballot or voting machine ballot and that nothing in the package invites a proxy for the election.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.; § 719.106(1)(b), (1)(d)1.
[HOA] Confirm the ballot format matches what the governing documents prescribe, since the statute does not prescribe one.§ 720.306(9)(a)
Print the ballot with no identifying marks of any kind. Secrecy is the point of the inner envelope, and a numbered or initialed ballot defeats it.
If a listed candidate becomes ineligible or withdraws after the ballot is printed, send an amended notice and a revised ballot rather than crossing a name out.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021

Envelope handling

[Condo] Use the two-envelope method: the ballot goes in an inner envelope with no markings, which goes in an outer envelope bearing the voter's name, the unit or units being voted, and a signature space the voter signs on the exterior.The envelope machinery is not in the statute. It is in the Division rule, which is where a manager should look for the operative language.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
[HOA] If your governing documents permit members not in attendance to vote by secret ballot, use the same two-envelope method the statute prescribes: an inner envelope with no identifying markings, in an outer envelope bearing the member's name, the lot or parcel voted, and the member's signature.This is the one place Chapter 720 does supply election machinery, and it applies only if the documents permit absentee secret balloting in the first place.§ 720.306(8)(b)
Log every outer envelope as it arrives, by date received and by unit or parcel, in a single register.
Store unopened envelopes in a locked place in the association's control, and do not let a candidate, a candidate's spouse or a sitting director handle them.
Do not open an outer envelope before the meeting for any reason.Pre-verification of the information on the outside of the outer envelope is permitted at a properly noticed open meeting. Opening it is not.
Mark any outer envelope not signed by the eligible voter "Disregarded" and do not count the ballot inside it.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
Mark any inner envelope containing more than one ballot "Disregarded" and do not count any of them.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
[HOA] Confirm no other ballot has already been submitted for that lot or parcel before the inner envelope is separated from the outer.§ 720.306(8)(b)

The impartial committee

Appoint the committee in advance and name its members in the board minutes.
Exclude current board members, officers, candidates for the board, and the spouses of any of them.This is the rule people break by asking the outgoing president's spouse to help count. It taints the count and gives a losing candidate something real to argue.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
Notice the committee's verification session as an open meeting and let owners watch.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
Give the committee the eligibility list, the envelope register and a written procedure before election day, not at the table.

Counting and announcing

Close the polls the moment the opening of outer envelopes begins or electronic votes are first accessed, whichever happens first, and announce it.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
Remove every inner envelope from its outer envelope and place them all in a receptacle before any inner envelope is opened.This is what breaks the link between the voter and the ballot. Opening inner envelopes as you go rebuilds it.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
Open the inner envelopes and count the ballots in the presence of the owners.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
[Condo/Co-op] Confirm at least 20 percent of the eligible voters cast a ballot before you declare a valid election. There is no quorum requirement for the election itself.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.a.; § 719.106(1)(d)1.a.
Decide the election by a plurality of the ballots cast.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.a.; § 720.306(9)(a)
[Condo] On a tie, mail notice of the run-off within 7 days and hold the run-off not less than 21 nor more than 30 days after the original election.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021
Announce the result at the meeting and record the vote totals for each candidate in the minutes, not just the winners.

Seating, turnover and retention

Seat the new board and hold the organizational meeting.
[Condo] Confirm each outgoing board or committee member relinquishes all official records and association property in his or her possession or control to the incoming board within 5 days after the election.Five days, not five business days, and it applies to committee members too. Send the written reminder the day after the election. See our note on the post-election transition.§ 718.111(12)(f)
Collect each new director's written certification and educational certificate on the chapter's own schedule.[Condo] Both the certification and a 4-hour course certificate, submitted within 1 year before or 90 days after election or appointment, with 1 hour of continuing education annually after that. [Co-op] Either the certification or the course. [HOA] The statute prescribes subject matter but no written-certification alternative and no initial hour count in the text.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.b.; § 719.106(1)(d)1.b.; § 720.3033(1)
Retain all envelopes and ballots, whether disregarded or not, with the official records for 1 year from the date of the election.Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021; § 718.111(12)(a)12.
Calendar the close of the challenge window. Any challenge to the election process must be commenced within 60 days after the results are announced.§ 718.112(2)(d)5.c.; § 720.306(9)(a)
File the whole election packet as one unit: notices, proof of mailing, candidate notices, information sheets, the envelope register, the tally sheet and the minutes.

Statutes and authorities referenced

§ 718.112(2)(d)3., Fla. Stat. (condominium candidate eligibility, term limits and co-owners)
§ 718.112(2)(d)5.a., Fla. Stat. (condominium election sequence, 20 percent threshold and plurality)
§ 718.112(2)(d)5.b.-c., Fla. Stat. (director certification and the 60-day challenge window)
§ 718.111(12)(a)12., § 718.111(12)(f), Fla. Stat. (voting record retention and outgoing director turnover)
§ 719.106(1)(b), (1)(d), Fla. Stat. (cooperative proxies, election sequence and eligibility)
§ 720.306(5), (8)(b), (9), Fla. Stat. (HOA notice, absentee secret ballot envelopes, elections and eligibility)
§ 720.3033(1), Fla. Stat. (HOA director education)
Fla. Admin. Code R. 61B-23.0021 (condominium regular elections: envelopes, impartial committee, counting, ties and retention)

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Hamilton Mikes builds election calendars for Southwest Florida associations, screens candidate eligibility before the ballot is printed, and defends the result when a losing candidate challenges it. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Corporate Governance page.

About this article. This article is published by Hamilton Mikes, P.A. for general educational purposes. It is not legal advice, it is not a legal opinion, and it is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer who has reviewed your association's governing documents and the facts of your situation. Reading it, downloading it, or corresponding with the firm about it does not create an attorney-client relationship. No such relationship arises until the firm and the client have signed a written engagement agreement. Please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information to the firm until a conflicts check has been completed and an engagement is confirmed in writing; information sent before that point may not be treated as privileged.

Scope and currency. This article addresses Florida law as applied to Florida community associations, and the firm is licensed to practice in Florida only. Nothing here should be taken as a statement of the law of any other jurisdiction. Florida's community association statutes have been amended in every regular session since 2021, and subsection numbering has moved more than once in that period. Each article states the edition of the Florida Statutes it was written against. The law may have changed after that date, an appellate court may have construed a provision differently, and an administrative rule or a local ordinance may impose requirements this article does not address.

Your governing documents control. Much of what governs a Florida association is not in the statutes at all. Declarations, articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules, plats and recorded amendments differ from community to community, and on many questions they set the rule while the statute sets only a floor or a default. A procedure that is correct in one association may be a breach of the documents in the association next door. No general article can tell you which is which for your community.

Why general information is not advice. Legal questions are resolved by applying the law to particular facts as a judge, jury, arbitrator or hearing officer finds them. An outcome that appears clear in the abstract frequently turns on the documents, the chronology, the board's own prior conduct, and the procedural posture, none of which an article can anticipate. A lawyer supplies what information cannot: the judgment to identify which facts matter, the experience to know how a court or the Division is likely to treat them, the ability to choose among the courses of action actually available, and the advocacy to carry the association's position through negotiation, hearing or trial.

The standard of care, and the protection the statute attaches to counsel. A director of a Florida community association is held to the standard in section 617.0830, Florida Statutes: to act in good faith, in a manner the director reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation, and to discharge the duties of the office with the care an ordinary prudent person in a like position would reasonably believe appropriate under similar circumstances. That standard is measured against the decision the board actually faced, on the record actually before it. The same statute supplies the protection that goes with the duty. Under section 617.0830(4) and (5)(b), a director who has no knowledge making reliance unwarranted is entitled to rely on information, opinions, reports and statements prepared or presented by legal counsel retained by the association as to matters the director reasonably believes are within counsel's professional competence. The Legislature has written the prudent course into the statute. A board that obtains advice on its own documents and its own facts, and acts on that advice, is standing on ground the statute expressly protects. Nothing on this website confers that protection. General information, however carefully prepared, is not advice on your declaration, your amendments, your board's history or your dispute, and a director who relies on it in place of counsel forgoes a statutory protection that was available for the asking.

Personal exposure is real. Service on an association board is usually uncompensated, but volunteer status is not itself immunity. Under section 617.0834, Florida Statutes, a director or an officer is not personally liable in monetary damages for a statement, vote, decision, or failure to act in that role unless two things are both true: the director or officer breached or failed to perform the duties of the office, and that breach was a violation of the criminal law, a transaction from which the director or officer derived an improper personal benefit, conscious disregard or willful misconduct in a proceeding brought by or in the right of the corporation, or recklessness or bad faith in a proceeding brought by anyone else. That protection turns on how the director acted, not on whether the director was paid. Chapters 718, 719 and 720 add consequences of their own, including removal from office, civil penalties assessed against the individual for certain willful and knowing violations, and in defined circumstances criminal liability. Whether any of that reaches a particular director depends entirely on the facts and on the director's conduct. The practical point is narrower and more useful: the decisions that generate this exposure — levying an assessment, enforcing a covenant, denying a transfer, withholding a record, entering a unit, terminating a contract, signing for construction work — are precisely the decisions on which general information is least adequate, and on which counsel costs least relative to what is at stake.

No guarantee; prior results. The firm makes no representation or warranty that the information in this article is complete, current or applicable to any particular matter, and disclaims liability to any person for any action taken or not taken in reliance on it. Any description of prior results does not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any other matter; every case turns on its own facts, documents and record.

Do not act on this article alone. If your association faces a decision of consequence, obtain advice from a Florida-licensed attorney who has read your governing documents and the relevant record before the board votes, signs, sends or forecloses. Hamilton Mikes, P.A. represents community associations throughout Southwest Florida and can be reached at 239-594-7227.

Association Election Checklist: Backward Planning, Eligibility, Ballots and Counting Across the Three Chapters