Quick Answer
South Carolina has no election code for homeowners associations. The South Carolina Homeowners Association Act is seven sections long and none of them says how a vote is taken. For an association that is incorporated, and most are, the voting rules come from the South Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act, and your declaration and bylaws can change almost every default in it.
| Question | Default rule | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Quorum at a members' meeting | 10 percent of the votes entitled to be cast, unless the articles or bylaws set a higher or lower number | S.C. Code §33-31-722(a) |
| What it takes to pass | The affirmative vote of the votes represented and voting, which must also be a majority of the required quorum | §33-31-723(a) |
| Meeting notice | Fair and reasonable. Ten to 60 days before the meeting always qualifies (30 days if mailed by other than first class or registered mail) | §33-31-705(c) |
| Proxies | Allowed unless the articles or bylaws prohibit or limit them. Good for 11 months unless the form says otherwise, and never more than 3 years | §33-31-724 |
| Voting without a meeting | By written or electronic ballot delivered to every member entitled to vote, unless the articles or bylaws prohibit or limit it | §33-31-708 |
| Members calling a special meeting | Holders of at least 5 percent of the voting power, by signed and dated written demand | §33-31-702(a)(2) |
| Removing a director the members elected | Without cause, at a meeting called for that purpose, by enough votes to have elected that director | §33-31-808 |
| Filling a board vacancy | The members or the board, unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise | §33-31-811(a) |
| Condominiums | The bylaws set how co-owners are called together, and decisions need a majority of at least 51 percent | §27-31-160(b) |
This is our reading of the South Carolina Code, offered to support your own review, and it is not legal advice. Your articles, declaration and bylaws override most of these defaults. Confirm with your association's attorney before you rely on any one of them.
Three Statutes, and Which One Answers a Voting Question
South Carolina boards usually start with the wrong statute, because the one with their name on it is the shortest.
The Homeowners Association Act (S.C. Code §27-30-110 to §27-30-170) took effect May 17, 2018. It does five things, and running elections is not one of them:
- Governing documents must be recorded in the county where the property sits to be enforceable (§27-30-130(A)).
- Rules and regulations take effect when adopted, but to stay enforceable they must be recorded by January 10 of the year after they are adopted or amended (§27-30-130(B)).
- An association must give homeowners at least 48 hours' notice of the meeting at which it decides to raise the annual budget, by posting in a common area, on its website, by email, or by a bylaw method that ensures actual notice (§27-30-140). That section does not apply to an association incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Act.
- Homeowners in an association that is not subject to the Nonprofit Corporation Act get that act's inspection rights for the annual budget and the membership list (§27-30-150).
- Magistrates court has concurrent jurisdiction over monetary disputes arising under the act (§27-30-160).
Then it closes with the sentence that matters most: nothing in the act may be construed to conflict with the Nonprofit Corporation Act (§27-30-170).
The Nonprofit Corporation Act (Title 33, Chapter 31) is where quorum, notice, proxies, ballots, director elections and removal actually live. If your association filed articles of incorporation as a nonprofit, this is your default rulebook.
The Horizontal Property Act (Title 27, Chapter 31) governs condominiums. It says the regime is run by bylaws recorded with the master deed (§27-31-150) and lists what those bylaws must contain (§27-31-160).
So the order of reading is your declaration and bylaws first, then Chapter 31 of Title 33 for everything they leave out. An unincorporated association has only its documents.
Quorum: Ten Percent, and the Second Test Nobody Reads
Unless the Nonprofit Corporation Act, the articles or the bylaws provide for a higher or lower quorum, 10 percent of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter must be represented at a meeting of members to make a quorum on that matter (§33-31-722(a)). If your bylaws name a number, that number governs.
The part boards miss is the next section. If a quorum is present, the act of the members is the affirmative vote of the votes represented and voting, and those affirmative votes must also be a majority of the required quorum (§33-31-723(a)).
Here is why that second test matters, in a hypothetical 400-lot association using the 10 percent default:
- The required quorum is 40 votes, so a majority of the required quorum is 21.
- Sixty lots are represented at the meeting. Quorum is met.
- A motion gets 16 votes in favor and 14 against, and 30 owners do not vote on it.
- It won among those voting, 16 to 14. It still fails, because 16 is fewer than 21.
A thin meeting with a lot of abstentions can lose a vote it appeared to win. Count the yes votes against that floor before the chair announces a result.
One more guard is built in. An amendment to the articles or bylaws that adds, changes or deletes a greater quorum must be adopted under the quorum then in effect or the one proposed, whichever is greater (§33-31-722(c)). You cannot lower a high quorum at a meeting that only reached the lower one.
If your meetings keep falling short, what happens when an annual meeting fails quorum covers the options, and the quorum calculator does the arithmetic for your roster. Other states are compared in quorum requirements by state.
Notice: A Standard, With a Safe Harbor
South Carolina does not set one fixed notice period. A corporation must give notice of members' meetings, consistent with its bylaws, in a fair and reasonable manner (§33-31-705(a)). The statute then says what always counts as fair and reasonable (§33-31-705(c)):
- 1Members are told the place, date and time of each annual, regular and special meeting no fewer than 10 days and no more than 60 days before the meeting. If the notice is mailed by other than first class or registered mail, the minimum is 30 days.
- 2Notice of an annual or regular meeting describes any matter on the statute's list of items that members must approve, a list that includes amendments to the articles and the bylaws.
- 3Notice of a special meeting describes the matter for which the meeting is called.
Two details are worth knowing. First, members can put an item on the agenda: the corporation must give notice of a matter a member intends to raise if a person entitled to call a special meeting asks in writing and the request arrives at least 10 days before the corporation gives notice of the meeting (§33-31-705(e)). Second, members can call the meeting themselves. Holders of at least 5 percent of the voting power may sign, date and deliver a written demand for a special meeting, and if the corporation gives no notice within 30 days, a person who signed the demand may set the time and place and give the notice (§33-31-702).
Your bylaws may be stricter than the safe harbor. Use whichever is longer.
Proxies: Allowed, and They Expire
Neither the Homeowners Association Act nor the Horizontal Property Act mentions proxies, so the Nonprofit Corporation Act supplies the rule for an incorporated association (§33-31-724):
- Unless the articles or bylaws prohibit or limit proxy voting, a member may appoint a proxy by signing an appointment form, personally or by an attorney-in-fact.
- The appointment takes effect when the secretary, or another officer or agent authorized to tabulate votes, receives it.
- It is valid for 11 months unless the form expressly provides a different period, and no proxy is valid for more than 3 years from the date it was signed.
- It is revocable. A member revokes it by attending a meeting and voting in person, or by signing and delivering a written revocation or a later appointment form.
South Carolina does not bar proxies in board elections, which several other states now do. The comparison is in HOA proxy voting rules by state, and there is a plain proxy designation form you can adapt.
This one gets heated
Should community boards be required to use independent election administrators?
Voting Without a Meeting
This is the section that makes online and mail voting workable in South Carolina, and it has been in the code since 1994. A 2006 amendment added the words "or electronic" throughout.
Unless prohibited or limited by the articles or bylaws, any action that may be taken at an annual, regular or special meeting of members may be taken without a meeting if the corporation delivers a written or electronic ballot to every member entitled to vote on the matter (§33-31-708(a)). The conditions are specific:
- The ballot must set forth each proposed action and give an opportunity to vote for or against each one (§33-31-708(b)).
- Approval is valid only when the number of votes cast by ballot equals or exceeds the quorum that a meeting would have required, and the number of approvals equals or exceeds what would have been required at a meeting where the same number of votes were cast (§33-31-708(c)).
- Every solicitation must state the number of responses needed to meet quorum, the percentage of approvals needed to approve each matter other than the election of directors, and the time by which a ballot must be received to be counted (§33-31-708(d)).
- A ballot cannot be revoked once cast, unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise (§33-31-708(e)).
Boards leave the third item out more often than any other. A ballot package that does not tell owners how many responses are needed and what percentage carries the question does not meet the statute, however the vote comes out.
Read this section alongside your bylaws before you use it for a board election. Directors are elected at the annual meeting unless the articles or bylaws provide some other time or method (§33-31-804(a)), and the corporation still holds a membership meeting annually (§33-31-701(a)). Many associations pair the two: ballots go out ahead of time and the result is announced at the meeting. Have counsel confirm the pairing fits your documents.
Electing and Removing the Board
Elections. Where members vote for directors, all directors other than the initial ones are elected at the first annual meeting and at each annual meeting after it, unless the articles or bylaws provide another time or method, or provide that some directors are appointed or designated (§33-31-804(a)). Cumulative voting exists only if the articles provide for it, and it is not available at a meeting unless the notice said so or a member gives notice during the meeting before the vote (§33-31-725).
Removal. The members may remove one or more directors they elected without cause (§33-31-808(a)), on three conditions:
- It happens only at a meeting called for the purpose of removing the director, and the notice must state that purpose (§33-31-808(e)).
- The number of votes cast to remove must be enough to have elected the director at a meeting to elect directors (§33-31-808(c)).
- Where cumulative voting is authorized, a director cannot be removed if the votes against removal would have been enough to elect that director under cumulative voting (§33-31-808(d)).
A director the board itself elected can be removed without cause by two-thirds of the directors then in office. There is one exception that protects the members' choice: a director the board elected to fill the seat of a member-elected director may be removed by the members, but not by the board (§33-31-808(h)).
Vacancies. Unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, the members may fill a vacancy, or the board may, and if the directors left are fewer than a quorum they may fill it by a majority of all the directors remaining in office (§33-31-811(a)). The general pattern across states is in how to fill a board vacancy, and removal is compared in the recall process by state.
Condominiums
A condominium regime is administered under bylaws that are inserted in or appended to the master deed and recorded with it (§27-31-150). The Horizontal Property Act requires those bylaws to provide the method of calling or summoning the co-owners to assemble, that a majority of at least 51 percent is required to adopt decisions, who presides, and who keeps the minutes book (§27-31-160(b)).
That is nearly all the act says about voting. It sets no quorum, no notice period and no proxy rule. If the condominium association is incorporated as a nonprofit, the defaults above fill the gaps. If it is not, the recorded bylaws are the whole answer.
Records, Complaints and Disputes
- Records. A member of a nonprofit corporation may inspect and copy the corporation's core records on written notice at least five business days ahead (§33-31-1602(a)).
- Complaints. The Department of Consumer Affairs receives and records complaints from homeowners and associations (§27-30-340). It collects the information and reports on it. It is not a tribunal, and filing a complaint does not decide an election dispute.
- Money disputes. Magistrates court shares jurisdiction over monetary disputes arising under the Homeowners Association Act, within its ordinary limits (§27-30-160).
A contested election that is not about money usually goes to circuit court. What gets a board through that is the record: who was on the roster, who was sent a ballot, who returned one, and when. See what to do when an election is disputed.
Running a South Carolina Vote Online
South Carolina's coastal communities have a problem the statute already solves. When most owners live in another state, a meeting quorum is hard to reach and a proxy drive hands the outcome to whoever collects the forms. Section 33-31-708 lets every owner cast a ballot directly instead.
A ballot vote that holds up in South Carolina needs four things on the page: each proposed action with a for and an against, the number of responses needed for quorum, the percentage needed to approve, and the deadline for receipt. On vote.direct each 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.
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-owner 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, with the citations in one place, is South Carolina HOA voting rules.
FAQ
Q: Does South Carolina law allow online voting for an HOA?
Yes, for an incorporated association whose articles and bylaws do not prohibit or limit it. S.C. Code §33-31-708 lets any action that could be taken at a members' meeting be taken without a meeting by written or electronic ballot delivered to every member entitled to vote. The Homeowners Association Act itself does not mention electronic voting, and §27-30-170 says that act may not be read to conflict with the Nonprofit Corporation Act.
Q: What is the quorum for a South Carolina HOA meeting?
Ten percent of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, unless the Nonprofit Corporation Act, the articles or the bylaws provide a higher or lower number (§33-31-722(a)). Check your bylaws first, because a bylaw number replaces the default.
Q: Can a motion fail even though more owners voted yes than no?
Yes. Under §33-31-723(a) the yes votes must carry the votes represented and voting, and they must also be a majority of the required quorum. With a 40-vote quorum, a motion needs at least 21 yes votes no matter how few people vote on it.
Q: How long is a proxy good for in South Carolina?
Eleven months, unless the appointment form expressly provides a different period, and never more than three years from the date it was signed (§33-31-724(b)). The member can revoke it by voting in person or by signing a later form.
Q: How much notice does a South Carolina HOA have to give for a meeting?
Notice must be fair and reasonable and consistent with the bylaws. Notice given 10 to 60 days before the meeting meets the statutory safe harbor, with a 30-day minimum if it is mailed by other than first class or registered mail (§33-31-705(c)). An unincorporated association that is raising its annual budget must give at least 48 hours' notice of that meeting (§27-30-140).
Q: Can homeowners remove a board member in South Carolina?
Yes. Members may remove a director they elected without cause, at a meeting called for that purpose whose notice states the purpose, if the votes cast to remove would have been enough to elect that director (§33-31-808). Your bylaws may add procedure.
Q: Who enforces South Carolina HOA election rules?
No state agency does. The Department of Consumer Affairs records complaints and reports on them (§27-30-340), and disputes are decided in court. Magistrates court can hear monetary disputes arising under the Homeowners Association Act (§27-30-160).
Q: Do these rules apply to a condominium?
Only partly. The Horizontal Property Act requires the recorded bylaws to set how co-owners are called together and requires a majority of at least 51 percent to adopt decisions (§27-31-160(b)). Everything else comes from the bylaws, and from the Nonprofit Corporation Act if the association is incorporated.
The Bottom Line
South Carolina wrote a short HOA statute and left the voting rules to corporate law. That is workable once you know where to look: 10 percent quorum unless your bylaws say otherwise, a yes vote that must clear a majority of that quorum, notice inside a 10 to 60 day window, proxies that expire, and a ballot statute that has allowed electronic ballots since 2006.
The two places boards go wrong are both about reading one section further. They count a win among those voting and forget the majority-of-quorum floor in §33-31-723. And they send a ballot without the three statements §33-31-708(d) requires. Get those two right and most of the rest is in your bylaws.
Sources: South Carolina Code of Laws §27-30-110 to §27-30-170 and §27-30-340 (Homeowners Association Act, 2018 Act No. 245); §27-31-150 and §27-31-160 (Horizontal Property Act); §33-31-701, §33-31-702, §33-31-705, §33-31-708 (as amended by 2006 Act No. 255), §33-31-722, §33-31-723, §33-31-724, §33-31-725, §33-31-804, §33-31-808, §33-31-811 and §33-31-1602 (Nonprofit Corporation Act). Read at scstatehouse.gov on October 12, 2026.
Every rule on one page: South Carolina 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.
