Our Right To Know Election Results Is Being Removed

Election Integrity Alert

Our Right To Know Election Results Is Being Removed

May 18, 2025

Imagine a bank that suddenly announces, “We’ll no longer tell you your balance after each transaction. Just trust that we’ll record everything correctly and let you know your total… eventually.” That’s exactly what our board leadership is proposing by eliminating same-day preliminary election results. This is the very safeguard that caught a still-unexplained overnight change in our last election, when a winning candidate was declared a loser the next day. Now the board leadership wants to remove a key election safeguard that exposed this discrepancy. Instead of fixing last year’s suspicious vote counting, they want to remove the transparency that brought it to light.

Brought to you by Drew McManus, your neighbor in 7908.

The Proposed Change

Board leadership, including HOA President Scott Timmerman and his fellow House Rules Committee co-chair Melinda McMullen, are responsible for the proposed change. They want to remove the requirement that election results be shared during our Annual Meeting. Though ballots would still be counted at the meeting, we won’t learn the outcomes until the following day.

The only explanation offered in an April 24 email to owners is “The preliminary voting result announcement is no longer required.”

That’s not rational, it’s an intentional step away from accountability.

Why This Should Concern Every Resident

Our Ballots Lose Protection

When preliminary results aren’t announced to owners during the Annual Meeting, ballots leave the room without anyone knowing what they contained. The connection between what we submitted and what gets reported later is broken, and we lose our ability to witness the process from start to finish.

We Lose Our Shared Reference Point

Currently, everyone at the meeting hears the same numbers at the same time. We can ask questions and seek clarification together. This creates a public record we can all reference if questions arise later. Without this step, we have no common understanding to return to.

The Gap Creates Uncertainty

The time between counting and announcing creates a window where mistakes or changes could happen without anyone noticing. Even if nothing improper occurs, the lack of visibility naturally creates doubt and undermines trust in our shared governance.

The Silence Speaks Volumes

A Troubling Precedent

Last year’s election raised questions that still haven’t been answered or even acknowledged by Board President Scott Timmerman.

One of the most concerning questions involves a candidate not endorsed by Timmerman who was announced as a winner during the meeting. By the next day, that winner had somehow been replaced by a different candidate endorsed by the Timmerman.

There was a discrepancy in the total votes cast between the preliminary and official results, which led to owners taking a closer look but a verifiable explanation was never provided.

This new rule would make similar reversals substantially harder for owners to detect or question.

Instead of fixing last year’s suspicious vote counting, the change Timmerman seeks simply removes the transparency that brought it to light.

Encourage Board Members To Keep Our Protections

This is about more than just rules or procedures. It’s about maintaining the integrity of how we make decisions as a community. Now is the time to speak up.

Express your views at the upcoming meeting

Monday, May 19 at 7 PM Central Time, Club 44.

Can’t make it? Your voice still matters

While Timmerman supports limiting owner feedback to only those who are able to attend that meeting, that doesn’t mean you are out of options.

This is an excellent example why the following Board Contact form was created so you as owners can reach out directly explaining why you find the proposed change troubling and why you value transparency in our election process

I encourage everyone to talk to your neighbors and encourage them to use this template to email the board directly if they are unable to attend the meeting. Feel free to modify any of the copy below to include your own thoughts and concerns.

Be respectful, concise, and clear in articulating your views. You are welcome to use the example language as-is, but feel free to personalize the message before you send.

Your Name(Required)

First Last

Your unit number(s)(Required)

Your Email Address(Required)

Message Subject(Required)

Message Body(Required)

Dear Board Members,

I'm writing about the proposed rule change that would eliminate announcing preliminary election results during our Annual Meeting.

This change concerns me because it removes an important moment of transparency in our community governance. When ballots are counted but results aren't shared, we lose the connection between what happens in the room and what gets reported later. This creates unnecessary distance between residents and the decisions that shape our community.

The need for transparency is especially urgent given the discrepancies that occurred after the last election. Preliminary results announced during the meeting showed one candidate as a winner. The next day, those results had changed without any explanation, replacing that candidate with someone else. To this day, owners have never received a clear account of what happened or why the numbers changed.

I believe we should be strengthening trust through greater transparency, not reducing it. Please reconsider this change and instead explore ways we can make our election process even more visible and trustworthy.

If the motion to adopt the House Rule changes moves forward as a whole, I ask that a board member make the following amendment, it be seconded and approved by majority vote:

"I move to amend the motion to remove all proposed edits to House Rule section 9.3.11 so that the requirement to announce preliminary and unofficial election results during the Annual Meeting remains unchanged."

Owners are watching and I encourage all of you to do the right thing. Owners need an election process we can trust.

Pro Tip: If you would like your letter to be included in the upcoming board packet, please clearly state this in your message.

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