Quick Answer
An approval threshold is the share of the vote a measure must win to carry. It is not quorum. Quorum asks whether enough members voted at all. A threshold asks what share of that vote said yes. Bylaws routinely require both, independently, and a measure can meet one and fail the other.
Three things decide whether a measure passed, and all three must be settled before voting opens: the fraction required, the basis it is measured against, and whether the test is "more than" or "at least".
This article is general information, not legal advice. The thresholds that apply to your organization are set by your governing documents and your state. Confirm your own rules, and have your attorney confirm before the board acts. Our [state voting rules pages](/hoa-voting-rules) are a starting point for that review, not a substitute for it.
The Basis Is Where Disputes Come From
"Two-thirds" is meaningless until you say two-thirds of what. There are two standard answers and they are materially different bars.
Of votes cast, excluding abstentions. Standard parliamentary practice. An abstention is a refusal to vote, so it does not enlarge the denominator a motion must clear. This is what a church constitution usually means by "two-thirds of those voting", and what most bylaws mean when they do not specify.
Of all eligible members, whether or not they voted. A much harder bar, and the one most CC&R amendment clauses use when they say something like "67 percent of all members". Under this basis, a member who does not vote has the same effect on the outcome as a member who votes no.
The same ballots, two answers
100 eligible members. 60 vote. Of those, 40 say yes, 15 say no, 5 abstain.
| Basis | Denominator | Yes share | Two-thirds required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast, abstentions excluded | 55 | 72.7% | Passes |
| Votes cast, abstentions included | 60 | 66.7% | Passes, barely |
| All eligible members | 100 | 40.0% | Fails |
Same ballots. Same count. Three different outcomes, decided entirely by a phrase in your bylaws. This is why "do abstentions count as no votes" is the single most common threshold question boards ask, and the honest answer is: under a votes-cast basis they do not, and under an all-eligible basis they effectively do.
More Than, Or At Least
A simple majority is conventionally more than half. Fifty votes out of 100 does not carry, because 50 is not more than 50.
A two-thirds requirement is conventionally at least two-thirds. The two conventions are not interchangeable and the difference decides real votes, so the comparison operator belongs in your rule alongside the fraction.
Why Two-Thirds Is Not 66.67 Percent
This looks pedantic and is not. A motion carried 2 votes to 1 is exactly 66.666… percent, which fails a 66.67 percent test. A threshold stored as a rounded percentage will eventually reject a motion that genuinely met the bylaw.
The fix is to store the requirement as an exact fraction, two over three, and test it by cross-multiplication rather than by comparing decimals. That is how thresholds work here, so a 2-to-1 vote passes a two-thirds requirement, as it should.
If you are counting by hand, the same rule applies: compare yes votes times 3 against 2 times the total rather than converting to a percentage first.
Quorum and Threshold Are Different Tests
| Quorum | Approval threshold | |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Did enough members participate? | Did enough of them say yes? |
| Measured against | Eligible members or total weight | Votes cast, or all eligible |
| Typical value | 20% to 50% | Majority, 2/3, 3/4, 67% |
| If it fails | The meeting or vote is invalid | The measure fails, the vote was valid |
Expressing a supermajority by raising the quorum threshold is a mistake we have seen in the wild. It measures turnout, not approval, and it returns a number that answers a different question. Set them separately.
Running a Threshold Vote Online
A yes-or-no measure is the Yes / No question type. Set the approval threshold on the question itself: the fraction, the basis it is measured against, and whether the test is "more than" or "at least".
The results page then shows the measure against its threshold explicitly, stating what the requirement was, what the denominator was, and whether it was met, so a member reading the outcome does not have to reconstruct the arithmetic. Quorum is reported separately, because it is a separate test.
Abstain can be offered on yes-or-no, single choice, multiple choice and approval questions, so a member can record participation without taking a position.
Elections up to 25 voters are free, and paid elections start at $4.99.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do abstentions count as no votes?
Under the standard parliamentary basis of votes cast, no. An abstention is a refusal to vote and does not enlarge the denominator. Under an all-eligible-members basis, an abstention has the same practical effect as a no, because the denominator includes everyone regardless.
Q: What does "two-thirds of those voting" mean?
Two-thirds of the ballots actually cast on that question, excluding abstentions. It is a materially lower bar than two-thirds of the full membership.
Q: What is the difference between quorum and an approval threshold?
Quorum asks whether enough members participated for the vote to be valid. An approval threshold asks what share of the vote said yes. A measure can clear quorum and still fail its threshold.
Q: Is a simple majority 50 percent?
More than 50 percent. Exactly half does not carry. By contrast a two-thirds requirement is conventionally satisfied by exactly two-thirds.
Q: Why does two-thirds have to be stored as a fraction?
Because 2 votes out of 3 is 66.666… percent, which fails a threshold rounded to 66.67 percent. Storing the exact fraction and comparing by cross-multiplication removes that class of error entirely.
Ready to run one? Create your election, or compare every method in the voting methods series.
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 [email protected] and we will correct it. See our editorial standards for how these pages are researched and checked.
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