Quick Answer
An Alabama homeowners association is a nonprofit corporation, and since January 1, 2025 every existing Alabama nonprofit corporation is governed by the Alabama Nonprofit Corporation Law in Chapter 3A of Title 10A (Ala. Code §10A-3A-14.01(b)). The older chapter that most guides still cite, with its one-tenth quorum, no longer supplies the defaults. Condominiums have their own act and their own numbers.
| Question | HOA (nonprofit corporation) | Condominium |
|---|---|---|
| Default quorum, members | A majority of the votes entitled to be cast, unless the certificate of incorporation or bylaws provide otherwise (§10A-3A-7.24(a)) | 20 percent of the votes, in person or by proxy at the start, unless the bylaws provide otherwise (§35-8A-309(a)) |
| What passes | More votes for than against, unless the documents require more (§10A-3A-7.24(c)) | Set by the declaration and bylaws |
| Electing directors | A plurality of the votes cast. No cumulative voting, with one grandfather clause (§10A-3A-7.27) | Unit owners elect a board of at least three (§35-8A-303(f)) |
| Meeting notice | 10 to 60 days before the meeting (§10A-3A-7.05(a)) | 10 to 60 days, hand-delivered or mailed, with the agenda (§35-8A-308) |
| Proxies | Allowed unless the documents say otherwise. Good for 11 months if no term is stated (§10A-3A-7.22) | Allowed. Void if undated. Good for one year (§35-8A-310(b)) |
| Vote without a meeting | By ballot delivered to every member entitled to vote (§10A-3A-7.10) | Not addressed by the condominium act |
| Removing a director | With or without cause, by the members who could fill the seat, unless the documents provide otherwise (§10A-3A-8.08(a)) | Two-thirds of the owners present in person, at a meeting with a quorum in person (§35-8A-303(g)) |
| Board vacancy | The members or the board (§10A-3A-8.10(a)) | The board, for the unexpired term (§35-8A-303(b)) |
This is our reading of the Code of Alabama, offered to support your own review, and it is not legal advice. Your declaration, certificate of incorporation and bylaws override most of these defaults. Confirm with your association's attorney before you rely on any one of them.
Three Bodies of Law
The Alabama Homeowners' Association Act (Ala. Code §35-20-1 to §35-20-14). It applies to a development whose declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 2016, and to an older association only if a majority of its members elect to be governed by it (§35-20-3(a)). It does not apply to condominiums, to commercial developments, or to cooperatives, timeshares and campgrounds (§35-20-3(b)). Its central rule is structural: an association created under a declaration must be organized as a nonprofit corporation and is governed in all respects as one (§35-20-5(a)).
The Alabama Nonprofit Corporation Law (Title 10A, Chapter 3A). This is where an HOA's meeting, notice, quorum, proxy, ballot and director rules are found.
The Alabama Uniform Condominium Act (Title 35, Chapter 8A). It governs condominiums created after January 1, 1991 and sets its own meeting, quorum, proxy and removal rules.
The order of reading is the declaration first. If the declaration and the association's other governing documents conflict, the declaration prevails, unless it is inconsistent with the Homeowners' Association Act (§35-20-8).
What Changed on January 1, 2025
Alabama replaced its nonprofit corporation statute. The new chapter governed newly formed corporations from January 1, 2024, and existing corporations only if they opted in. On and after January 1, 2025 it governs all existing nonprofit corporations (§10A-3A-14.01). No nonprofit corporation may be formed under the old chapter after December 31, 2023.
The Homeowners' Association Act was not rewritten to match. It still says associations are organized under "Chapter 3 of Title 10A," and its election section still points to the old notice section. The corporate law underneath it moved anyway. Three of the changes reach ordinary HOA votes.
1. The default quorum went up. Under the old chapter, when the bylaws were silent, members holding one-tenth of the votes made a quorum. Under the new one, except as provided in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws, members representing a majority of the votes entitled to be cast make a quorum (§10A-3A-7.24(a)).
If your bylaws state a quorum, nothing changed for you. If they are silent, or say something like "as provided by law," the number you inherit is now a majority, and an association that used to open its annual meeting with 12 percent of the lots represented may not have a quorum at all. Read the clause before your next meeting. Amending it is ordinary bylaw work, and it is far cheaper than a challenged election.
2. Members no longer call a special meeting by default. The old chapter let members holding one-twentieth of the votes call a special meeting when the documents named no other number. The new one says special meetings may be called by the board, or by the persons the certificate of incorporation or bylaws authorize, and members may demand one where the certificate or bylaws allow it (§10A-3A-7.02). If your documents are silent, the members' route is gone unless you add it.
3. Cumulative voting is off by default. Directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast, and members do not have a right to cumulate their votes (§10A-3A-7.27). There is a grandfather clause: if the certificate or bylaws gave members that right on December 31, 2023, it continues until the documents are amended to remove it (§10A-3A-14.01(c)(2)).
There is also something new that helps. The old chapter let bylaws provide for director elections by mail. The new one has a full ballot section.
Voting Without a Meeting
Except as otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws, any action that may be taken at a meeting of members may be taken without a meeting if the corporation delivers notice that includes a ballot to every member entitled to vote on the matter (§10A-3A-7.10(a)).
- The ballot must be in writing, set forth each proposed action, give an opportunity to vote for or withhold a vote for each candidate for director, and give an opportunity to vote for or against each other proposed action (§10A-3A-7.10(b)).
- Approval of an action other than the election of directors is valid only when the votes cast by ballot equal or exceed the quorum a meeting would have required, and the approvals equal or exceed what a meeting would have required with that many votes cast (§10A-3A-7.10(c)).
- Every solicitation must state the number of responses needed to meet quorum, the percentage of approvals needed for each matter other than the election of directors, and the time by which a ballot must be received to be counted (§10A-3A-7.10(d)).
- A ballot cannot be revoked, unless the certificate or bylaws provide otherwise (§10A-3A-7.10(e)).
"In writing" does not mean on paper. Alabama's business entities code defines a writing as information inscribed on a tangible medium or stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in perceivable form (§10A-1-1.03). What you still have to get right is delivery. A notice or other communication from a nonprofit corporation may go to the email address the corporation keeps for a member, unless that member has objected in writing to email, and other forms of electronic transmission need the member's consent (§10A-3A-1.03(d)). An owner who has opted out of email gets the ballot another way.
Remember what the higher default quorum does here. A ballot vote needs as many ballots returned as a meeting would have needed members present. If your documents leave quorum at a majority, a ballot vote on a bylaw amendment needs more than half the membership to respond.
Meetings, Notice and Remote Participation
Notice. A membership nonprofit corporation must notify members of the place, if any, date and time of each annual, regular or special meeting no fewer than 10 and no more than 60 days before the meeting (§10A-3A-7.05(a)). Notice of a special meeting must describe its purpose. Notice of an annual meeting need not, unless the law or the documents require it (§10A-3A-7.05(b), (c)).
Remote participation. Members may participate by remote communication to the extent the board authorizes it. They are deemed present and may vote if the corporation has implemented reasonable measures to verify that each person participating remotely is a member, and to give them a reasonable opportunity to participate and vote substantially concurrently with the proceedings. Unless the certificate or bylaws require a physical place, the board may hold the meeting entirely by remote communication (§10A-3A-7.09). If remote participation is authorized, the notice must describe the means.
The members list. After fixing a record date, the corporation prepares an alphabetical list of the members entitled to notice and to vote, and makes it available for inspection no later than the tenth day before the meeting (§10A-3A-7.20).
An adjourned meeting. If a quorum is not present, the members who are there may adjourn. The documents may provide that those who attend the reconvened meeting constitute a quorum even though they are fewer, but only if the notice said so (§10A-3A-7.24(e)). This is not automatic. It has to be in your certificate or bylaws, and in the notice.
Proxies
Except as otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws, a member may vote in person or by proxy (§10A-3A-7.22). A member appoints a proxy by signing an appointment form or by an electronic transmission that shows its date and that the member authorized it. The appointment is effective when the inspector of election, or the officer or agent authorized to count votes, receives it. It is valid for the term stated in the form, and for 11 months if no term is stated.
Each member has one vote on each matter unless the certificate or bylaws limit, enlarge or deny that right (§10A-3A-7.21). Most declarations allocate votes by lot, and that allocation controls.
This one gets heated
Should community boards be required to use independent election administrators?
The First Election After the Developer
A declaration may give the declarant a period of control over the election of directors and officers (§35-20-7). When it ends, the act sets the handover:
- Within 120 days of the date the members gain the right to elect a board, the declarant must give written notice of a special meeting of the membership to elect one (§35-20-9(a)).
- The notice must state that the purpose is the election of a board, provide for nominations of candidates at the meeting on the written consent of at least 10 percent of the membership unless the governing documents provide otherwise, and name the existing directors and those who may continue to serve (§35-20-9(b)).
- Within 90 days of the board's selection, the declarant must deliver the association's books, records and governing documents, records of unpaid assessments, contracts, insurance policies, the list of members' names and addresses, and unexpired warranties (§35-20-10).
The act refers to the old notice section for how that notice is given. The notice rule that now governs every Alabama nonprofit corporation is §10A-3A-7.05, and the window is the same 10 to 60 days. More on the handover in the developer turnover election guide.
Two housekeeping rules sit beside it. An association must file its bylaws and its original covenants with the Secretary of State, which keeps a public searchable database (§35-20-5(b)). And an association must provide its records to a member or a potential purchaser who asks in writing, within a reasonable time not to exceed 30 days, on payment of reasonable costs (§35-20-13(a)).
Removing a Director and Filling the Seat
Except as provided in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws, a director of a membership nonprofit corporation may be removed with or without cause by the members who would be entitled to vote to fill the vacancy (§10A-3A-8.08(a)). The notice of the meeting must state that removal is a purpose of the meeting. Unless the documents provide otherwise, the board may not remove a director, with one exception: it may remove a director who did not meet, or no longer meets, the qualifications in the certificate or bylaws (§10A-3A-8.08(c), (e)).
A vacancy may be filled by the members or by the board, and if the directors remaining are fewer than a quorum they may fill it by a majority of all the directors remaining in office, unless the documents provide otherwise (§10A-3A-8.10(a)). A director must be a natural person at least 19 years old, and need not be a resident of Alabama or a member unless the certificate or bylaws require it (§10A-3A-8.02(b)).
How the board fills a seat mid-term, and when it should hold an election instead, is in how to fill a board vacancy.
Condominiums Run on Different Numbers
For a condominium under the Uniform Condominium Act, do not borrow the HOA defaults.
- Meetings. At least one a year. Special meetings may be called by the president, a majority of the board, or unit owners holding 20 percent of the votes or a lower percentage in the bylaws (§35-8A-308).
- Notice. Not less than 10 and not more than 60 days ahead, hand-delivered or sent prepaid by United States mail to the mailing address of each unit or another address the owner designates in writing. It must state the items on the agenda, including the general nature of any proposed amendment to the declaration or bylaws, any budget changes, and any proposal to remove an officer or board member (§35-8A-308).
- Quorum. Unless the bylaws provide otherwise, persons entitled to cast 20 percent of the votes that may be cast for election of the board, present in person or by proxy at the beginning of the meeting (§35-8A-309(a)).
- Proxies. A proxy is void if it is not dated or purports to be revocable without notice. It terminates one year after its date unless it states a shorter term, and it is revoked only by actual notice to the person presiding (§35-8A-310(b)).
- Removal. Notwithstanding the declaration or bylaws, unit owners may remove a board member, with or without cause, by a two-thirds vote of all persons present in person and entitled to vote at a meeting at which a quorum in person is present (§35-8A-303(g)). Proxies do not count for this vote.
- Budget. Within 30 days after adopting a proposed budget the board gives a copy to all unit owners and sets a meeting 10 to 50 days after delivery. Unless a majority of all the unit owners present in person or by proxy, or a larger vote named in the declaration, reject it, the budget is ratified, whether or not a quorum is present (§35-8A-303(c)).
- Units the association owns. Their votes may not be cast (§35-8A-310(d)).
The condominium act says nothing about ballots by mail or online, and its notice rule is hand delivery or mail. An incorporated condominium association also sits under the nonprofit law, so ask counsel how the two fit before replacing a meeting vote with a ballot. Removal is the clear case where they do not: that vote has to happen in a room.
Running an Alabama Vote Online
For an HOA, the ballot section gives a board a clean path: a ballot to every member entitled to vote, each action stated, the quorum number, the approval percentage and the deadline on the page. On vote.direct each member receives a private ballot link by email, reminders go only to members who have not voted, and the organizer sees turnout against the quorum they set while the vote is open. Members who have objected to email, or have none, can be sent a mailed ballot in the same election. Every election writes to an append-only audit log, and the result certificate is produced from that log.
Elections up to 25 voters are free. Above that the flat rate starts at $4.99 per election for up to 50 voters, and a 200-lot association pays $19.99. The full ladder is at pricing. If the board would rather hand the whole thing off, we run the election for you.
The state summary page is Alabama HOA voting rules.
FAQ
Q: Does Alabama law allow online voting for an HOA?
Yes, for an association whose certificate of incorporation and bylaws do not provide otherwise. Ala. Code §10A-3A-7.10 lets any action that could be taken at a members' meeting be taken without a meeting by a written ballot delivered to every member entitled to vote, and Alabama defines a writing to include information stored electronically (§10A-1-1.03). Members may also take part in a meeting remotely and vote if the board authorizes it and the corporation verifies who they are (§10A-3A-7.09).
Q: What is the quorum for an Alabama HOA meeting?
Whatever your certificate of incorporation or bylaws say. If they are silent, members representing a majority of the votes entitled to be cast (§10A-3A-7.24(a)). Before January 1, 2025 the default for an existing association was one-tenth.
Q: Did Alabama HOA law change in 2025?
The Homeowners' Association Act did not, but the nonprofit corporation law beneath it did. From January 1, 2025, Chapter 3A of Title 10A governs every existing Alabama nonprofit corporation (§10A-3A-14.01(b)), and Alabama HOAs are organized as nonprofit corporations (§35-20-5(a)).
Q: How long is a proxy good for in Alabama?
For an HOA, the term stated in the appointment form, or 11 months if none is stated (§10A-3A-7.22(c)). For a condominium, one year from its date unless it states a shorter term (§35-8A-310(b)).
Q: How do you remove an HOA board member in Alabama?
By a vote of the members, with or without cause, unless the certificate or bylaws provide otherwise, at a meeting whose notice says removal is a purpose (§10A-3A-8.08). In a condominium it takes two-thirds of the owners present in person at a meeting with a quorum present in person (§35-8A-303(g)).
Q: Can HOA members call a special meeting in Alabama?
Only if the certificate of incorporation or bylaws allow it (§10A-3A-7.02). Condominium unit owners holding 20 percent of the votes, or a lower percentage in the bylaws, may call one under §35-8A-308.
Q: Does the Alabama Homeowners' Association Act apply to my older neighborhood?
Only if its declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 2016, or a majority of its members have elected to be governed by the act (§35-20-3(a)). An older association that is incorporated as a nonprofit is still governed by the nonprofit corporation law.
Q: Can cumulative voting be used in an Alabama HOA election?
Not by default. Members do not have a right to cumulate votes for directors (§10A-3A-7.27(b)), unless the certificate or bylaws gave them that right on December 31, 2023 and have not been amended to remove it (§10A-3A-14.01(c)(2)).
The Bottom Line
Most of what is written about Alabama HOA voting describes a statute that stopped applying to existing associations at the start of 2025. The practical differences are few and they matter: a silent bylaw now means a majority quorum, members cannot call a special meeting unless the documents let them, and cumulative voting is gone unless it was grandfathered.
The same law made voting easier. There is a ballot section, the ballot can be electronic, and remote participation in a meeting is expressly allowed. A board that reads its quorum clause this year, fixes it if it is silent, and uses the ballot section for its next election is in a better position than it was under the old chapter.
Sources: Code of Alabama §35-20-3, §35-20-5, §35-20-7 to §35-20-10, §35-20-13 (Homeowners' Association Act, Act 2015-292); §10A-1-1.03; §10A-3A-1.03, §10A-3A-7.02, §10A-3A-7.05, §10A-3A-7.09, §10A-3A-7.10, §10A-3A-7.20 to §10A-3A-7.22, §10A-3A-7.24, §10A-3A-7.27, §10A-3A-8.02, §10A-3A-8.08, §10A-3A-8.10, §10A-3A-14.01 (Alabama Nonprofit Corporation Law, Act 2023-503); former §10A-3-2.02 and §10A-3-2.06; §35-8A-303, §35-8A-308 to §35-8A-310 (Uniform Condominium Act). Read in the Alabama Legislature's code database on October 12, 2026.
Every rule on one page: Alabama HOA voting rules, with quorum, notice, proxy and electronic voting at a glance.
This article is general information, not legal advice. We recommend you do your own research and confirm anything you plan to act on. Where this article states law, the section is cited so you can read the primary source yourself rather than take our word for it. That is what the citations are for. Election requirements also turn on your own governing documents, which we have not seen, and statutes are amended. For advice about your community, consult a qualified attorney licensed in your state.
We work hard to verify every citation against the primary source, but laws change and errors happen. If you spot an inaccuracy, email support@vote.direct and we will correct it. See our editorial standards for how these pages are researched and checked.
