Registration 
            
Registration usually begins 30 minutes before the start of the meeting. It is almost never enough time and so the meeting starts late or the registration process becomes a distraction for the first part of the meeting. I can't understand why the registration desk doesn't open earlier, especially for the larger corporations as the meetings often have to start late.

Registration is handled by the property management company. They use current records of service and a list of who is over 30 days in arrears to determine if the proxy forms are valid and if the owners who appear in person should receive a ballot.

Owners and proxy holders may be required to show photo ID.

Owners in arrears
Any owner who is in arrears has the right to pay up and receive a ballot so the management company must be prepared to accept cash or cheques and issue receipts.

Receiving proxies
The proxy forms are the principals' voting instruments and the registrar will take the forms and keep them secure for the election scrutineers.

The owners may receive ballots with different colours for each separate election. For example, a green coloured ballot may be used for the election of  the owner-resident director and a blue ballot for all the other open director positions. A third colour may be used for the voting of other meeting business.

Challenge the registration personal
In some condos, there are suspicions that the property management company and the board resort to dirty tricks to win elections. Perhaps corruption is suspected or at a minimum, you believe that the incumbents will cheat in order to remain in office and that the property management will assist them.

If you think this is absurd, read "Condo Board Election Revolt".

A few years ago, at as west-end Toronto AGM, the challenging candidates asked the chairman, who is a prominent Bay Street lawyer, to open the ballot box to ensure it was empty. The chairman got all indigent and said such an accusation was an affront to the property manager. After a long and bitter argument, it was discovered that there was 30 marked ballots supporting the incumbents sitting in the closed box.

If you have reason to believe that there is a possibility of election fraud, once the date of the AGM has been announced, write to the corporation lawyer and state your concerns and request that a neutral party observe the election process or that the concerned candidates be allowed to appoint scrutineers to examine the proxies during registration.

If possible you may want to have your condo lawyer, an experienced property manager, an accountant or a condo consultant act as a scrutineer during the registration process and the counting of the ballots.

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