California HOA Call for Candidates Notice

A call for candidates notice invites eligible members of a common interest development to nominate themselves, or in some associations to nominate another member, for an open seat on the board of directors.

It is an informational and procedural notice rather than a ballot. Its purpose is to open the nomination window on a documented date so every member has the same opportunity to participate and so the inspector of elections can later verify that the nomination process was fair.

The call for candidates is issued early in the election cycle, well before ballots are prepared, because the association must know who is running before it can print a ballot.

Associations commonly send it together with, or shortly before, a notice describing nomination procedures so members receive both the invitation and the rules at roughly the same time.

• The number of board seats up for election and the term length for each seat
• The nomination deadline, expressed as a specific date and often a time of day
• How a nomination may be submitted (mail, email, online form or delivery to a management address)
• Candidate qualification requirements drawn from the association's election rules
• Any disqualification standards the association has adopted and applies uniformly
• Whether candidate statements are accepted and any word or format limits
• Contact information for the inspector of elections or the person receiving nominations
• A reference to the governing documents and election rules that control the process

The notice goes to the association's members using the individual or general delivery method allowed by the association's governing documents and California law.

Members who have requested a specific delivery method, such as email, should receive the notice through that method. Associations should keep a record of what was sent and when.

California law addresses the timing of nomination procedures and the deadline for members to submit their names as candidates, so the nomination window must open early enough for the association to satisfy those requirements before ballots are distributed.

Many associations work backward from the annual meeting date to determine when to open nominations, allowing time for candidate verification, acclamation analysis, ballot preparation and mailing.

Governing documents and adopted election rules may impose longer or additional timing requirements than the statutory minimum.

• Setting a nomination deadline that leaves too little time to prepare and distribute ballots
• Describing candidate qualifications that do not match the association's adopted election rules
• Applying a disqualification standard inconsistently between candidates
• Sending the notice to a stale membership list rather than the current one
• Omitting a clear method and address for submitting a nomination
• Failing to document the date the notice was delivered

After nominations close, associations typically communicate the nomination and election procedures, confirm the candidate list and determine whether the election may proceed by acclamation.

Nomination Procedures Notice