Islander Beach Club Condominium Association v. Johnston
Florida District Court of Appeal
623 So. 2d 628 (1993)
- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
Richard P. Johnston (plaintiff) was the individual owner of three condominium-unit weeks at Islander Beach Club, a time-share condominium complex in Volusia County, Florida. Johnston sued the condominium association (the association) (defendant) for an injunction to enjoin the association from blocking his immediate access to sealed proxy votes cast by the association’s voting members in elections for association board members. Johnston filed his suit while he was waging a proxy fight for votes to be elected to a board position and the association would not give him access to sealed proxy votes before the election. Johnston argued that the votes became official records of the association as soon as the association received them. The association had adopted a procedure in which all proxy votes it received were retained in a secure area and left unopened until they were verified by an independent accounting firm shortly before the election, and it argued that the proxy votes were nonpublic until they were opened. Florida condominium law required condominium associations to maintain their official records relating to an election for one year, including ballots, sign-in sheets, and voting proxies. Additional provisions of the state law declared that proxy votes were effective only for the specific meeting for which they were given and that the proxy votes could be revoked any time before they were exercised at an election. The trial court issued the injunction and directed the association to allow Johnston to open and inspect the proxy votes as they were received by the association. The association appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Harris, C.J.)
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