The right to vote is the foundation of any democratic community—whether at the national level or within a local Homeowners Association. Yet in Surfside, that right continues to be undermined by an outdated and unreliable mail-only voting system that repeatedly fails a portion of the membership. Electronic voting is no longer experimental—it is a proven, secure, and widely adopted solution that ensures every homeowner can actually participate.
With electronic voting, homeowners can cast their ballot by phone, tablet, or computer in just minutes, using a secure link delivered by email or text message. Instead of waiting days or weeks for mail delivery, voters receive instant access, immediate confirmation that their vote was recorded, and the ability to participate from anywhere in the country. It’s safe and low cost.
Election by paper ballot can cost thousands of dollars once materials and mailing are totaled—costs that are passed directly to homeowners through dues. Electronic voting eliminates most of these expenses by replacing them with a single, predictable platform fee. Over time, this shift can save the association substantial money, reduce administrative workload, and allow funds to be redirected toward community needs instead of paper, ink, and stamps. Electronic voting can be done in less than an hour with a valid voter list of emails and phone numbers.
A Virginia homeowners association demonstrated just how effective electronic voting can be when it implemented ElectionBuddy as its official voting platform. Within a short implementation period, the HOA transitioned smoothly to secure online voting while still offering paper ballots as an option. The results were overwhelmingly positive: residents reported high levels of satisfaction and confidence in the process, voter participation increased significantly, and for the first time in years the association was able to comfortably meet its quorum requirements. Post-election feedback showed strong member approval for the system’s ease of use, transparency, and reliability—proving that electronic voting is not only feasible, but transformational for community engagement and democratic legitimacy. Their leadership saw how the HOA could benefit from electronic voting and implemented it in two months.
But voting access is only part of the story. A growing number of residents now believe that mail-only voting is being preserved not just through inaction—but through active suppression of opposing voices.
Mail Ballots Are Failing Residents
Surfside’s dependence on physical mail ballots creates persistent and predictable failures:
- Ballots are lost in transit
- Ballots are delivered to outdated addresses
- Some ballots never arrive
- Others arrive after voting deadlines
- Part-time and out-of-area residents are routinely excluded
Every election cycle brings the same complaints: homeowners discovering after the fact that a vote even occurred, learning their ballot went to an old address, or never receiving one at all. When participation depends on postal luck instead of guaranteed access, the system is already broken.
Part-Time Residents Are Being Disenfranchised
Surfside is a community with a significant number of part-time, seasonal, and out-of-area residents. These homeowners:
- Do not reliably receive mail in Surfside
- May not monitor secondary addresses frequently
- Often learn of elections only after voting has closed
Mail-only voting structurally alienates a portion of the legal membership, silencing voices solely based on where people live part-time. A voting system that excludes legitimate members cannot claim to be fair, inclusive, or representative.
Electronic Voting Solves These Problems—Immediately
Secure electronic voting platforms are already used successfully by HOAs, municipalities, unions, corporations, and nonprofit organizations across the country. It has already been tested in independent voting with over ten polls taken. All for less than 59 dollars a poll. These systems provide:
- Instant ballot delivery
- Confirmed receipt
- Secure identity verification
- One-member-one-vote protection
- Audit trails and transparent tabulation
- Immediate results with full verification
Electronic voting eliminates lost ballots, delayed delivery, postal forwarding failures, and address errors. Just as importantly, it protects the association itself by creating a clear, verifiable record of voter participation.
Surfside
Surfside previously acknowledged that electronic voting was technically feasible. Claiming they were looking at AMS as a professional organization that could deliver electronic voting and multiple board members openly indicated their support for electronic voting when campaigning but if nothing to move it forward.
Homeowners were led to believe modernization and broader voter access were genuinely being considered.
From Public Support to Private Obstruction
Despite those public statements of support, electronic voting was never seriously or transparently brought before the election committee for evaluation, vendor review, or open discussion with the membership. No formal security review was shared. No cost comparison was publicly presented. No pilot program was discussed.
Instead, the issue quietly disappeared—followed not by study, but by active opposition. Calling members who submitted an electronic motion a troublemaker.
This abrupt reversal raises a critical and unavoidable question:
Why would a voting method that expands participation, transparency, and access suddenly be attacked instead of evaluated?
To many residents, the answer appears obvious. Electronic voting reduces centralized control. A system that allows every homeowner—full-time or part-time—to vote easily, verify their ballot, and confirm participation limits the ability to influence outcomes through procedural barriers, delayed mail, missing ballots, or outdated addresses.
When access expands, control diminishes.
Enforcement and Fines Used to Suppress Opposition
Equally troubling to many homeowners is the denial of voting rights to members with fines. These include tree height fines eliminating a main opposition group.
To many in the community, this pattern does not look like neutral rule enforcement. It looks like voter suppression through intimidation.
When homeowners fear retaliation for speaking up, running for office, or challenging policy, true democracy collapses. Fines become a political weapon instead of a compliance tool. Democracy drops—not because residents do not care, but because they fear consequences.
A system that penalizes dissent while limiting access to the ballot is not democratic by any honest definition.
Participation Increases When Barriers Are Removed
Communities that adopt electronic voting consistently report:
- Higher voter turnout
- Broader demographic participation
- Fewer election disputes
- Greater member engagement
- Stronger legitimacy of results
When members can vote securely from anywhere with confirmation of receipt, they do. Democracy functions best when participation is simple, equitable, and verifiable—not when access is controlled and selectively restricted.
Mail Voting would not be changed – electronic Voting would just be a convenient Option
This is not an argument to eliminate mail ballots entirely. Paper voting should remain available as a default with residents opting into electronic voting
A modern voting system must meet residents where they are today—not where technology stood decades ago.
A Question of Fairness, Trust, and Democratic Integrity
At its core, this issue is about trust. When members repeatedly report missing ballots, incorrect delivery, targeted fines, and exclusion from voting, confidence collapses. People stop believing their participation matters—or worse, that the system is designed to prevent it.
Electronic voting restores transparency, accountability, and confidence in outcomes. It ensures that:
- No homeowner is silenced by lost mail
- No voter is erased by an outdated address
- No resident is denied voting participation by enforcement fines
Blocking electronic voting, while simultaneously using fines to suppress opposition, is not governance—it is control.
Surfside residents deserve better. They deserve real access, real participation, and real democracy.
Surfside Washington News 