Election Records: What California Law Expects an HOA Election to Prove
California members have one year to challenge an HOA election under Civil Code § 5145. What a defensible election record should answer, and why.
California gives every association member one year to challenge an election. Civil Code § 5145 allows a member to bring a civil action over election procedures within one year of notice of the results. If the court finds the election rules weren't followed, it can void the results. The statute also provides civil penalties, and it awards attorney fees to a member who prevails.
The fee provision only runs one direction. In That v. Alders Maintenance Association (2012), a California appellate court held that an association that wins an election challenge cannot recover its attorney fees from the member who brought it — even when the challenge fails completely. The association pays its own defense either way.
That is the legal reality every association election operates inside: a one-year window, a remedy that can undo the results, and a defense bill that isn't coming back.
What the cases look like
Three published California decisions show how these challenges actually go.
That v. Alders Maintenance Association (2012) is the fee case above. The association won and still paid.
Wittenburg v. Beachwalk Homeowners Association (2013) involved § 5105's equal-access rules for campaign media. The court called the election statutes remedial and said they're construed liberally in favor of the member — meaning close calls tend to go against the association.
Arroyo v. Pacific Ridge Neighborhood Homeowners Association (2025) held that candidate statements mailed with ballots are association media subject to the equal-access rule, and that an association's election rules cannot narrow what the statute grants. The Inspector of Elections was sued personally.
What these have in common: the fight is always about what happened during the election — what was sent, when, to whom, under whose authority. The side that can answer those questions from records is arguing facts. The side that can't is reconstructing.
What a challenge costs
Nobody tracks how many California HOA elections end up challenged — courts don't count § 5145 cases as a category, and most settle or resolve in small claims without a published record. California doesn't track what these disputes cost, either. Insurance industry guides put defense costs for a contested HOA dispute at $50,000 to $150,000 before any settlement is discussed. The best-documented example comes from Florida, where a television news investigation found one 1,800-home association spent $291,000 over its legal budget across years spanning two election disputes.
What a defensible election record should answer
An election record does its job if, a year after the results, it can answer questions like these without anyone digging through inboxes:
When did the nomination window open and close, and who submitted by the deadline? What did the election rules in force for that election actually say? What notices went to members, and when? What stage had the election reached on any given date? If the timeline changed — a pause, an extension, a restart — who authorized it, and when? Who handled the ballots, and when?
Every one of those questions comes from a real dispute. When the answer exists as a record made at the time, the question gets answered. When it doesn't, it gets litigated.
How BallotLink approaches this
BallotLink creates the election record while the election runs, not after someone asks. Actions in the system are attributed to the person who took them. Voting members receive an emailed receipt and on-screen confirmation when their ballot is submitted. Election records are retained for one year, the period § 5200 makes them association records subject to member inspection and the same period § 5145 gives members to bring a challenge.