Keeping Ballots Secret

The secrecy of ballots in presidential elections is an American given, but few co-ops or condos have confidentiality clauses written into their bylaws. In buildings where volunteer residents handle the ballots during board elections, there are ample opportunities for those volunteers to curry favor with board members by peeking at ballots and divulging their contents.

“As surprising as it might sound,” says the Ask Real Estate column in the New York Times, “they probably are not breaking any rules.”

Some property managers strive to preserve the secrecy of ballots. “I try my best to keep everything confidential by asking owners to fold their voting ballots in half before giving them in, so others won’t see them,” says Daniel Dermer, president of Dermer Management. But, he acknowledges, the volunteers who collect the ballots “can tell anyone about the individual votes.”

In buildings where residents demand secrecy, boards can ask their attorney or managing agent to handle the tasks of collecting and tabulating ballots. “I’ve actually stood up at shareholder meetings and said, ‘I will not allow these ballots out of my hands,’” says attorney Arthur Weinstein.

Boards that don’t want to take any chances can take the extra step of hiring an outside service, such as Honest Ballot Association, to come in and run the voting and vote-counting. They have never reported a problem with confidentiality – or with hanging chads.