Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Court reviews whether a condominium association board candidate has a statutory right to see the ballots from an election

KENNETH J. SIGEL, M.D. v. THE MONARCH CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC. (Tenn. Ct. App. June 20, 2012)

This appeal involves the release of ballots for a condominium association election. The plaintiff condominium owner was a candidate for a position on the board of directors for the defendant condominium association. After losing the election, the plaintiff condominium owner requested to audit the vote and see the other members’ written ballots. The condominium association provided a tally sheet reflecting the number of ballots cast for each candidate but declined to release the actual ballots.

The plaintiff then filed this lawsuit, contending that the condominium association had a statutory obligation to release the ballots to him. The plaintiff later filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court denied the summary judgment motion and dismissed the lawsuit. The plaintiff condominium owner now appeals. We affirm, finding that the plaintiff condominium owner does not have a statutory right to see the association members’ written ballots.

Opinion available at:
https://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/sigelk_062912.pdf