Connecticut HOA Laws on Voting: CIOA Elections, Proxies, Budgets and Online Ballots (2026)

Quick Answer

Connecticut's Common Interest Ownership Act (CIOA) lets unit owners vote by electronic or paper ballot, before or at a meeting, or with no meeting at all, unless the declaration or bylaws prohibit or limit it (C.G.S. §47-252(a)). It then sets voting rules more specific than almost any other state's.

This is our reading of the Connecticut General Statutes, offered to support your own review, and it is not legal advice. Your declaration and bylaws may prohibit, limit or add to several of these rules. Confirm with your association's attorney before you rely on any one of them.

Which Communities CIOA Covers

CIOA applies to every common interest community created in Connecticut on or after January 1, 1984 (§47-214). That includes condominiums, planned communities and cooperatives.

Older communities are not outside it. A list of CIOA sections applies to communities created before 1984 as well, and that list includes the ones this article is about: meetings (§47-250), quorum (§47-251), voting (§47-252), notice (§47-261c), removal (§47-261d) and budgets (§47-261e). They apply only to events occurring after January 1, 1984, and they do not invalidate existing provisions of an older community's declaration or bylaws (§47-216(a)).

In practice: if your building opened in 1978, read your documents first, then CIOA for whatever they do not cover.

Three Ways to Vote

Unless the declaration or bylaws prohibit or limit it, unit owners may vote in any of three ways (§47-252(a)):

• 1By electronic or paper ballot, before or at a meeting, where the meeting is held in person, electronically, or both.

• 2By proxy, under the proxy rules below.

• 3By electronic or paper ballot with no meeting at all, under the checklist in §47-252(d).

The electronic language arrived by amendment in 2021 (P.A. 21-169) and 2023 (P.A. 23-18). The default now runs in favor of the ballot. A board does not need a bylaw that authorizes online voting. It needs to confirm there is no provision that takes the option away.

A Vote With No Meeting: the Statutory Checklist

A vote without a meeting is valid only if the association does each of these things (§47-252(d)):

• 1Tells unit owners the vote will be taken by ballot.

• 2Delivers a paper or electronic ballot to every unit owner entitled to vote on the matter.

• 3Puts on the ballot each proposed action or office to be filled, with an opportunity to vote for or against the action or the candidate.

• 4States, when the ballots go out: the number of responses needed to meet quorum, the percentage of votes needed to approve each matter other than the election of directors, and the time and date by which a ballot must be delivered to be counted.

• 5Leaves the ballot open long enough. The deadline may not be fewer than three days after the date the association delivers the ballot.

• 6Tells owners how to reach each other. The association must describe the time, date and manner by which a unit owner who wants to deliver information to all unit owners about the subject of the vote may do so.

Approval by ballot is valid only if the number of votes cast equals or exceeds the quorum that a meeting on the action would have required (§47-252(d)(6)). A ballot, once delivered, is not revoked by death, disability or an attempt to take it back, unless the declaration or bylaws say otherwise (§47-252(d)(5)).

Item 6 is the one to notice. Most states that allow ballots by mail or online say nothing about the other side of the argument. Connecticut requires the association to tell every owner how an owner with a different view can address the whole membership. A ballot package that leaves that sentence out is defective, and it is the easiest of the six to forget.

Three days is a legal minimum, not a plan. A window that short will not reach quorum in most communities. How to reach quorum covers what a workable schedule looks like.

Elections: Plurality, and What the Board May Not Decide

Unless the declaration, bylaws or certificate of incorporation require a greater number, directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast by the unit owners (§47-252(b)(3)). The candidates with the most votes take the seats, and no one needs a majority.

A few rules sit around that one:

• Who is elected. By the end of declarant control the unit owners elect an executive board of at least three members, and at least a majority of them must be unit owners (§47-245(f)). The board elects the officers unless the documents give that to the unit owners.
• What the board cannot do. The executive board may not elect its own members, except to fill a vacancy, and it may not determine the qualifications, powers and duties, or terms of office of board members (§47-245(b)). Those belong to the documents and the owners.
• Units with several owners. If only one of several owners of a unit takes part, that owner casts all of the unit's votes. If more than one takes part, the votes are cast as a majority in interest of them agree, and there is agreement if one casts the votes and no co-owner promptly protests (§47-252(b)(1)).
• Units the association owns. Their votes are cast in the same proportion as the votes cast by everyone else (§47-252(g)).

The mechanics of a clean board election, from nominations to the count, are in how to run an HOA board election step by step.

Proxies: Directed, Undirected, and the 15 Percent Cap

Except as the declaration or bylaws otherwise provide, these rules govern proxies (§47-252(c)):

• Votes may be cast under a directed or undirected proxy duly executed by a unit owner. A directed proxy tells the holder how to vote. An undirected proxy leaves it to the holder.
• No person may cast votes representing more than 15 percent of the votes in the association under undirected proxies.
• If the association hands out a proxy form, the form must include a blank space for the owner to write in the name of the proxy holder. It may also name a default holder for owners who leave the space empty.
• A proxy is void if it is not dated, or if it purports to be revocable without notice.
• A proxy terminates one year after its date unless it states a shorter term.
• An owner may revoke a proxy only by actual notice of revocation to the person presiding over the meeting.

The cap is Connecticut's answer to the proxy drive. In a 200-unit community where each unit has one vote, nobody may arrive holding more than 30 undirected proxies, however many they collected. Directed proxies are not capped, because the owner has already decided.

A direct ballot avoids the question, since nobody is carrying anyone else's vote. How other states treat proxies is in HOA proxy voting rules by state.

Budgets Pass Unless the Owners Reject Them

Connecticut does not ask owners to approve the budget. It asks whether enough of them will reject it.

The executive board adopts a proposed budget at least annually. Within 30 days it must give all unit owners a summary, including a statement of the amount of any reserves and the basis on which those reserves are calculated and funded. At the same time it sets a date, between 10 and 60 days after the summary goes out, for either a meeting of the unit owners or a vote by ballot without a meeting (§47-261e(a)(1)).

Then the test runs backwards from what people expect:

• If a majority of all unit owners, or a larger number named in the declaration, votes to reject the budget, it is rejected.
• If that many do not vote to reject it, it is approved.
• The absence of a quorum does not affect either result.
• If the budget is rejected, the last budget the owners approved continues until they approve a new one.

In a 100-unit community, 51 owners must vote no. A meeting where 30 owners attend and all 30 vote against the budget has approved it. Owners who want to stop a budget need turnout, and a board that wants a clean record should still run the vote properly, because the summary and the date are both mandatory.

There is one variation. For a community or master association established before July 3, 1991 with more than 2,400 residential units, a budget is rejected if a majority of the unit owners actually voting vote to reject it, provided at least 33 and one-third percent of the unit owners entitled to vote do so (§47-261e(a)(2)).

The general approach to budget votes is in HOA annual budget voting and approval.

Removing a Board Member

Removal in Connecticut is deliberately easy, and the statute overrides any document that tries to make it harder.

Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws to the contrary, unit owners present in person or by proxy at a meeting with a quorum, or voting by ballot without a meeting, may remove any member of the executive board, or any officer the unit owners elected, with or without cause, if the number of votes cast in favor of removal exceeds the number cast against it (§47-261d(a)).

The limits are procedural:

• The subject must have been listed in the notice of the meeting or the notice of the vote by ballot.
• The member or officer facing removal must have a reasonable opportunity to speak before the vote. In a vote by ballot, that person must be given a reasonable opportunity to deliver information to the unit owners (§47-261d(b)).
• A member appointed by the declarant cannot be removed by the owners during the period of declarant control.

There is no supermajority and no requirement of cause. Compare that with a state such as Alabama, where removing a condominium board member takes two-thirds of the owners present in person. The cross-state picture is in the HOA board recall process by state.

Meetings and Notice

Unit owner meetings (§47-250(a)). The association must hold a meeting of unit owners every year. It must hold a special meeting if the president, a majority of the executive board, or unit owners holding at least 20 percent of the votes, or a lower percentage set in the bylaws, ask the secretary to call one. If the association does not notify owners of that meeting within 15 days, the owners who asked may give the notice themselves. Only matters described in the notice may be considered at a special meeting.

Notice goes out not less than 10 and not more than 60 days before the meeting. It must state the time, date and place and 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. Owners must be given a reasonable opportunity to comment at any meeting.

How notice is delivered (§47-261c). To any mailing or email address the unit owner designates. The association may also deliver by hand, by mail or a commercially reasonable delivery service to the unit's mailing address, by electronic means if the owner has given an electronic address, or by any other method reasonably calculated to give notice. Notice is effective when sent, and a good-faith attempt that fails does not invalidate the action taken.

Board meetings (§47-250(b)). These are open to unit owners except during an executive session, and no final vote or action may be taken in executive session. Notice of a board meeting goes to board members and unit owners at least five days ahead with the agenda, unless the meeting is on a schedule already given to owners or deals with an emergency. The minutes must record how each board member voted on any final action, unless it passed by unanimous consent or without objection. The board may also act without meeting, by the consent of at least two-thirds of all its members, documented in a record, with prompt notice to every unit owner.

Running a Connecticut Vote Online

CIOA gives a Connecticut board more room than most, and a longer list of things to get right. A ballot vote that will hold up carries six statements: that the vote is by ballot, each action or office, the responses needed for quorum, the percentage needed to approve, the deadline, and how an owner can address the membership.

On vote.direct each unit owner receives a private ballot link by email, reminders go only to owners who have not voted, and the organizer sees turnout against the quorum they set while the vote is open. Owners with no email address 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, which is what a board needs if a removal or a rejected budget is later challenged.

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-unit community 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, with the citations in one place, is Connecticut HOA voting rules.

FAQ

Q: Can a Connecticut condo or HOA vote online?

Yes. Unless the declaration or bylaws prohibit or limit it, unit owners may vote by electronic or paper ballot before or at a meeting, and the association may conduct a vote with no meeting by delivering a paper or electronic ballot to every unit owner entitled to vote (C.G.S. §47-252(a), (d)).

Q: What is the quorum for a Connecticut HOA meeting?

Twenty percent of the votes in the association, present in person or by proxy at the beginning of the meeting, unless the bylaws otherwise provide (§47-251(a)). For the executive board it is a majority of the votes on the board, present when the vote is taken (§47-251(b)).

Q: How are condo board members elected in Connecticut?

By a plurality of the votes cast by the unit owners, unless the declaration, bylaws or certificate of incorporation require a greater number (§47-252(b)(3)). The board itself may not elect its members, except to fill a vacancy (§47-245(b)(3)).

Q: How do unit owners remove a board member in Connecticut?

By a vote, at a meeting with a quorum or by ballot without a meeting, in which the votes for removal exceed the votes against. It may be with or without cause, the subject must be in the notice, and the statute applies whatever the declaration or bylaws say (§47-261d).

Q: Do unit owners vote on the budget in Connecticut?

They vote on whether to reject it. The proposed budget is approved unless a majority of all unit owners, or a larger number set in the declaration, votes to reject it, and a missing quorum does not change the result (§47-261e(a)(1)).

Q: How many proxies can one person hold in Connecticut?

There is no limit on directed proxies. No person may cast votes representing more than 15 percent of the votes in the association under undirected proxies (§47-252(c)(7)).

Q: How long does a ballot have to stay open in Connecticut?

In a vote without a meeting, the deadline may not be fewer than three days after the association delivers the ballot (§47-252(d)(4)(C)). That is a minimum. Most communities need a longer window to reach quorum.

Q: Does CIOA apply to a condominium built before 1984?

The sections on meetings, quorum, voting, notice, removal and budgets do, for events after January 1, 1984, but they do not invalidate existing provisions of the older community's declaration or bylaws (§47-216(a)).

The Bottom Line

Connecticut settled most of the questions that other states leave to an argument at the annual meeting. Ballots may be electronic. Directors win by plurality. Nobody carries more than 15 percent of the votes on undirected proxies. A budget stands unless a majority of all owners rejects it. A board member goes if more owners vote to remove than to keep.

The price of that clarity is a checklist. A vote without a meeting has six required statements and a three-day minimum, and the one boards forget is telling owners how to reach each other. Build the ballot package from §47-252(d) line by line and keep the record.

Sources: Connecticut General Statutes, chapter 828 (Common Interest Ownership Act): §47-214; §47-216(a); §47-245(b), (f); §47-250(a), (b); §47-251; §47-252(a) to (d), (g), as amended by P.A. 21-169 and P.A. 23-18; §47-261c; §47-261d; §47-261e(a). Read at cga.ct.gov on October 12, 2026.

Every rule on one page: Connecticut HOA voting rules, with quorum, notice, proxy and electronic voting at a glance.