Association meetings; voting; proxies

HRS §514B-123 — under requirements under section 514B-84(a)(1) and (2), Hawaii Revised Statutes. On.

HRS §514B-123

§514B-123 Association meetings; voting; proxies. (a) If only one of several owners of a unit is present at a meeting of the association, that owner is entitled to cast all the votes allocated to that unit. If more than one of the owners is present, the votes allocated to that unit may be cast only in accordance with the agreement of a majority in interest of the owners, unless the declaration or bylaws expressly provide otherwise. There is majority agreement if any one of the owners casts the votes allocated to that unit without protest being made by any of the other owners of the unit to the person presiding over the meeting before the polls are closed.

(b) Votes allocated to a unit may be cast pursuant to a proxy duly executed by a unit owner. A unit owner may vote by mail or electronic transmission through a duly executed proxy. If a unit is owned by more than one person, each owner of the unit may vote or register protest to the casting of votes by the other owners of the unit through a duly executed proxy. In the absence of protest, any owner may cast the votes allocated to the unit by proxy. A unit owner may revoke a proxy given pursuant to this section only by actual notice of revocation to the secretary of the association or the managing agent. A proxy is void if it purports to be revocable without notice.

(c) No votes allocated to a unit owned by the association may be cast for the election or reelection of directors; provided that, notwithstanding section 514B-106(b) or any provision in an association's declaration or bylaws to the contrary, in a mixed-use project containing units for residential and nonresidential use, where the board is comprised of directors elected by owners of residential units and directors elected by owners of nonresidential units, the association, acting by and through its board, may cast the vote or votes allocated to any nonresidential unit owned by the association in any election of one or more directors where those eligible to vote in the election are limited to owners of one or more nonresidential units, which includes the nonresidential unit owned by the association.

(d) A proxy, to be valid, shall:

(e) If a proxy is a standard proxy form authorized by the association, the proxy shall comply with the following additional requirements:

(f) A proxy shall only be valid for the meeting to which the proxy pertains and its adjournments, may designate any person as proxy, and may be limited as the unit owner desires and indicates; provided that no proxy shall be irrevocable unless coupled with a financial interest in the unit.

(g) A copy, facsimile telecommunication, or other reliable reproduction of a proxy may be used in lieu of the original proxy for any and all purposes for which the original proxy could be used; provided that any copy, facsimile telecommunication, or other reproduction shall be a complete reproduction of the entire original proxy.

(h) Nothing in this section shall affect the holder of any proxy under a first mortgage of record encumbering a unit or under an agreement of sale affecting a unit.

(i) With respect to the use of association funds to distribute proxies:

(j) No managing agent or resident manager, or their employees, shall solicit, for use by the managing agent or resident manager, any proxies from any unit owner of the association that retains the managing agent or employs the resident manager, nor shall the managing agent or resident manager cast any proxy vote at any association meeting except for the purpose of establishing a quorum.

(k) No board shall adopt any rule prohibiting the solicitation of proxies or distribution of materials relating to association matters on the common elements by unit owners; provided that a board may adopt rules regulating reasonable time, place, and manner of the solicitations or distributions, or both. [L 2004, c 164, pt of §2; am L 2005, c 93, §7; am L 2006, c 273, §20; am L 2017, c 71, §4 and c 73, §2; am L 2022, c 62, §6]