HOA Voting Rules in Nevada

Yes, and since the 2023 session the statute says so directly. NRS §116.31034(15)(a) lets the association provide a secret paper or electronic ballot for a board election, and each owner gets at least 15 days after the ballot is mailed, provided or made available to return it by physical or electronic means. NRS §116.311(9)(g) sets the conditions: an owner who has opted out of electronic notices must still get a paper ballot and a prepaid return envelope, an owner who has designated an email address gets an electronic ballot, the paper ballots must still be opened and counted at the meeting held under NRS §116.31034 with the electronic results announced and entered into the record, and any electronic voting must be conducted by an independent third party who is not a candidate, board member, officer, community manager, declarant, or unit's owner. NRS §116.311(12) then defines what an online voting system must do: authenticate the owner, ensure the vote is not altered in transit, transmit an electronic receipt, separate identifying information from the ballot so no ballot can be matched to an owner, store votes so owners and the Ombudsman can inspect and recount them, and identify, reject and record the basis for rejecting unlawful or duplicate votes. That last list is the compliance checklist a Nevada electronic election is actually measured against — cite NRS §116.311(12), not NRS §116.31034, for verification and ballot security. vote.direct supports these requirements.

The Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED) actively oversees community associations, including election procedures. NRED can investigate complaints, impose fines, and order corrective action for election violations. The state also provides an ombudsman for common-interest communities. Having documented, auditable elections helps ensure NRED compliance.

NRS §116.31034(15) requires a secret paper or electronic ballot for board positions, with at least 15 days after the ballot is provided for owners to return it, and no quorum requirement for the election. Electronic voting must maintain ballot secrecy while verifying voter eligibility, and NRS §116.311(12) sets the specifics an online voting system must meet: authenticate the owner, keep the vote unaltered in transit, transmit an electronic receipt, separate identifying information from the ballot, store votes for inspection and recount by owners and the Ombudsman, and identify and reject unlawful or duplicate votes with the basis recorded. vote.direct's anonymous-yet-verified voting system satisfies both requirements.

NRS §116.3109(1) sets a default quorum of 20% of the votes in the association for a meeting of the units' owners, counting owners present in person, present by proxy, or who have cast absentee ballots — but NRS §116.31034(15)(c) specifies that **no quorum is required** for the election of any member of the executive board. This is one of only a few states where board elections can proceed regardless of participation levels, ensuring elections are never blocked by low turnout. For other matters the 20% default applies unless the governing documents provide otherwise, and if the governing documents require MORE than 20%, NRS §116.3109(2) lets the members present adjourn 48 hours to 30 days out and reconvene at a 20% quorum, limited to the original agenda.

Quorum in Nevada: NRS §116.3109(1) sets a default quorum of 20 percent of the votes in the association for a meeting of the units' owners, counting owners present in person, present by proxy, or who have cast absentee ballots — unless the governing documents provide otherwise. NRS §116.31034(15)(c) then provides flatly that no quorum is required for the election of any member of the executive board, one of only a few states with that rule, and no quorum is required at the meeting where the ballots are opened and counted. If the governing documents set a quorum higher than 20 percent and the meeting fails for lack of one, NRS §116.3109(2) lets the members present in person adjourn to a date not less than 48 hours nor more than 30 days later, where a quorum is deemed present at 20 percent, with business limited to the items on the original agenda. A quorum of the executive board is a majority unless the governing documents specify more. 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.

Under NRS §116.3108(3), notice of a meeting of the units' owners must be given not less than 15 days and no more than 60 days in advance, and it must state the time and place and include a copy of the agenda. How that notice travels is governed by NRS §116.31068: the association must deliver it to the electronic mail address a unit's owner designates, and may fall back to hand delivery, United States mail postage paid, or a commercially reasonable delivery service only for an owner who has opted out of electronic notices. For board meetings, NRS §116.31083(2) requires notice not less than 10 days before the meeting, given either in the manner set forth in NRS §116.31068 or published in a newsletter or other similar publication circulated to each unit's owner; the notice must state the time and place and include the agenda or where copies of it may be obtained. 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.

NRS §116.311 permits proxy voting but with important restrictions. Proxies are prohibited for the election or removal of a member of the executive board (NRS §116.311(6)), with a narrow exception for a master association governing a time-share plan. A unit's owner may give a proxy only to a member of his or her immediate family, a tenant of the owner who resides in the community, another unit's owner who resides in the community, or a delegate or representative authorized under NRS §116.31105. Before a vote may be cast, NRS §116.311(4) requires that the proxy be dated, not purport to be revocable without notice, designate the meeting it is executed for (including any recessed session), and designate each specific agenda item and whether the holder must vote yes or no on it — unless the proxy is used solely to establish a quorum; the holder must disclose at the beginning of the meeting how many proxies he or she is carrying. A proxy terminates immediately after the conclusion of that meeting and any recessed sessions, and a proxy that breaks any of these rules is void. Owners do not need a proxy to participate from a distance: NRS §116.311(1) also lets them vote by absentee ballot, and NRS §116.311(9) lets the association conduct a vote without a meeting — expressly including the election or removal of a board member — by paper or electronic ballot. 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.