HOA Voting Rules in Arkansas

Arkansas law is silent on electronic voting for HOAs. There is no statute that prohibits it, but there is also no explicit authorization. Your ability to use online voting depends on your governing documents. If your bylaws do not require a specific paper-based voting method, your board may be able to adopt electronic voting by resolution or bylaw amendment.

Arkansas HOA elections are governed primarily by the association's declaration and bylaws. For condominiums, the Arkansas Horizontal Property Act (Ark. Code §18-13-101 et seq.) provides additional rules. HOAs organized as nonprofit corporations are also subject to a nonprofit corporation act — the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993 (Ark. Code §4-33-101 et seq.) for corporations incorporated on or after January 1, 1994, and the earlier act (Ark. Code §4-28-201 et seq.) for older ones that did not elect in. There is no comprehensive standalone HOA act in Arkansas.

Low voter turnout is a common challenge for Arkansas HOAs, especially in rural areas where members may live far from meeting locations. Online voting through vote.direct eliminates the need for in-person attendance, allows voting over a defined time period, and includes automated email reminders, all of which can significantly boost participation.

Quorum in Arkansas: For condominiums under the Horizontal Property Act, Ark. Code §18-13-102(4) makes a majority of co-owners a quorum of the council of co-owners for the adoption of decisions unless the chapter provides otherwise, and 'majority of co-owners' is defined as 51 percent or more of the basic value of the property as a whole. For an HOA incorporated on or after January 1, 1994 under the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993, Ark. Code §4-33-722(a) sets the default at 10 percent of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter, unless the chapter, the articles or the bylaws provide for a higher or lower quorum; a bylaw amendment that decreases the quorum may be approved by the members or, unless the bylaws prohibit it, by the board, but an increase must be approved by the members. Associations incorporated before 1994 remain under the earlier Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act (Ark. Code §4-28-201 et seq.) unless they elected in. Check your bylaws first, because in Arkansas they usually control. If a vote falls short, most bylaws allow the meeting to be adjourned and reconvened, often at a reduced threshold on the second attempt. Check your declaration for the exact procedure, because the fallback rule is usually in your governing documents rather than in statute. Online voting is the most direct fix: members vote from a phone or laptop instead of attending in person, and Vote.Direct tracks quorum progress live and reminds the members who haven't voted yet.

Arkansas does not set one fixed window. Ark. Code §4-33-705(a) requires a nonprofit corporation to give notice of members' meetings consistent with its bylaws and in a fair and reasonable manner, and §4-33-705(c) supplies a safe harbor: notice of the place, date and time delivered no fewer than 10 days — or 30 days if the notice is mailed by other than first class or registered mail — nor more than 60 days before the meeting date, with notice of an annual or regular meeting describing any matter that must be included under §4-33-705(c)(2). Other means of giving notice may also be fair and reasonable when all the circumstances are considered. That safe harbor applies to associations incorporated on or after January 1, 1994; older associations follow their governing documents under the earlier Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act (Ark. Code §4-28-201 et seq.). Your governing documents can require more notice than the statutory floor, never less. Count the notice window backwards from your meeting date before you open voting, and keep a copy of the notice and its delivery date with the election record.

For an HOA incorporated on or after January 1, 1994, Ark. Code §4-33-724(a) lets a member appoint a proxy to vote or otherwise act for the member by signing an appointment form, unless the articles or bylaws prohibit or limit proxy voting. The appointment is effective when received by the secretary or other officer or agent authorized to tabulate votes, and §4-33-724(b)(2) makes it valid for 11 months unless a different period is expressly provided in the appointment form, with an outside limit of three years from the date of execution. Associations incorporated before 1994 fall under Ark. Code §4-28-212(c)(1), which lets a member vote in person or by proxy unless the articles or bylaws require the vote to be cast in person at a meeting of the membership. Arkansas also allows action by written ballot without a meeting unless the articles or bylaws prohibit or limit it (Ark. Code §4-33-708), which is the provision most Arkansas boards rely on to run an election online rather than gathering proxies. Proxies exist mainly to solve an attendance problem. When members can cast a verified ballot online during a multi-day voting window, most communities find proxy use drops sharply, along with the disputes about whether a given proxy was valid.

Arkansas statute doesn't address electronic voting either way, so authority comes from your governing documents rather than from Arkansas Horizontal Property Act (Ark. Code §18-13-101 et seq.). Start with your bylaws: if they don't restrict voting to "in person" or "written ballot" methods, you generally have room to adopt online voting by board resolution. If they do restrict it, you'll need a membership vote to amend them. A good amendment explicitly authorizes electronic voting, specifies security requirements, and preserves each member's right to opt out and receive a paper ballot. Have your association attorney draft the language.