What an Inspector of Elections Does: A Guide
Who can serve as a California HOA Inspector of Elections, the nine statutory duties, and why the inspector's report is prima facie evidence.
Every California HOA election is run by someone who isn’t the board. Civil Code section 5110 puts the election in the hands of an independent Inspector of Elections — and defines the role in detail.
One or three, never two
The association selects an independent third party — one inspector or three. How they’re chosen is set by the association’s election rules: appointed by the board, elected by the members, or any other method the rules specify.
What “independent” means
The statute gives examples of who can serve — a volunteer county poll worker, a California-licensed accountant, a notary public — but the list is open. An inspector may even be a member of the association. What an inspector may not be: a director, a candidate for director, or related to either. And an inspector may not be a person or business currently employed by or under contract to the association for any other paid services. The independence is from the board and from the association’s payroll, not from the community.
The nine duties
Section 5110 assigns the inspector the whole election: determine the number of memberships entitled to vote and each one’s voting power; determine the authenticity, validity, and effect of proxies; receive ballots; ensure an electronic voting system meets the statute’s requirements, if one is used; hear and determine all challenges and questions arising out of the right to vote; count and tabulate all votes; determine when the polls close; determine the tabulated results; and do whatever else is proper to conduct the election with fairness to all members.
The inspector may also appoint additional independent third parties to verify signatures and help count, under the inspector’s oversight.
The standard the inspector works to
The duties are performed impartially, in good faith, as expeditiously as practical, and in a manner that protects the interests of all members. Where there are three inspectors, a majority acts for all. And the inspector’s report is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it — which is why the inspector’s records matter as much as the count itself.
After the count
The inspector counts the votes in public at a properly noticed open meeting, where any candidate or member may watch, and keeps custody of the ballots and election materials until the time to challenge the election has passed. Those after-election rules are covered in Election Records: What California Law Expects an HOA Election to Prove.
How BallotLink fits
BallotLink is built around this role: the independent Inspector of Elections conducts the election, every submitted ballot generates an emailed receipt and on-screen confirmation, and election records are retained for the one-year period the law requires.