A.R.S. 33-1812: HOA Voting, Proxies, and Absentee Ballots in Arizona

HOA proxy fights used to let a few people collect signed proxies and control an election. A.R.S. 33-1812 ends that in most Arizona HOAs. Once the developer hands over control of the community, members can no longer vote by proxy. Instead the association has to offer in-person voting and absentee ballots, and the statute sets strict rules for what those ballots must contain. This keeps one person from voting your unit for you. Here is how the system works.

No more proxies after the developer leaves

The ban has a clear trigger. After the period of declarant control ends, votes for a unit may not be cast by proxy. "Declarant control" is the early phase when the developer still appoints the board. Once that ends and the homeowners run the community, proxies are gone, with one narrow exception for timeshare plans.

Notwithstanding any provision in the community documents, after termination of the period of declarant control, votes allocated to a unit may not be cast pursuant to a proxy.

This overrides your CC&Rs. Even if your governing documents allow proxies, this statute wins once declarant control is over. In their place, the association must let members vote in person and by absentee ballot, and it may add other methods like email or fax.

What every absentee ballot must include

If the HOA uses absentee or other delivered ballots, each ballot has to meet a checklist built to keep voting honest:

The ballot shall set forth each proposed action... shall provide an opportunity to vote for or against each proposed action... is valid for only one specified election or meeting... and does not authorize another person to cast votes on behalf of the member.

In plain terms, the ballot must list every issue being decided, give you a clear yes or no on each one, and expire after that single meeting. Crucially, it cannot let someone else vote for you, which is the whole point of killing the proxy. You also get time: the ballot must state a deadline that is at least seven days after the board sends you the blank ballot. Each ballot must carry the voter's name, address, and signature, unless your documents allow a secret ballot, in which case only the outer envelope is signed.

The seven-day window, quorum, and recordkeeping

Three practical numbers matter here. First, you get at least seven days to return a ballot after it is mailed, so the board cannot rush a vote. Second, absentee and electronically delivered votes count toward quorum, so members who vote from home are counted as present for the meeting to be valid. Third, the HOA must keep ballots, envelopes, and sign-in sheets for at least one year after the election and make them available for member inspection.

For example, if your Cave Creek HOA is voting to raise dues and amend the CC&Rs at the annual meeting, it must send an absentee ballot that lists both items separately, lets you vote on each, gives you at least a week to return it, and counts your returned ballot toward quorum. After the meeting, you can ask to inspect the ballots for a full year.

How it connects to the rest of the law

Voting runs through the open-meeting rules in A.R.S. 33-1804 , and the one-year retention duty here pairs with your records inspection right in A.R.S. 33-1805 , so you can actually check a disputed count. The same member power drives the recall vote that removes a director under A.R.S. 33-1813 . All of it flows from the recorded CC&Rs defined in A.R.S. 33-1802 . If you are buying a custom-home lot inside an HOA, understanding how it votes matters as much as how its design review affects building .

Full text and source

Read the current section, including the timeshare exception and the full ballot checklist, on the legislature's site: View A.R.S. 33-1812 on azleg.gov .

If your HOA is still collecting proxies or rushing a ballot deadline shorter than seven days, check whether declarant control has ended, because that single fact decides which rules apply.