Digital GA and postal voting: practical solutions which, however, have limits

Covid obliges, many trustees have opted for postal voting when others have chosen to digitize the AGM thanks to video and electronic voting. For Hello Trustee, trustee of co-ownership with a 3.0 model, these solutions, if they have advantages, also have real limits!

The year 2020 and the start of 2021 have forced condominium trustees to find solutions in order to be able to maintain life and the decisions that are the responsibility of the co-owners. Many trustees have chosen to postpone while waiting for a more favorable period, others have opted for postal voting, while some have chosen to digitize the GA thanks to video and electronic voting.

Postal voting: an expected innovation…

Generally speaking, postal voting has been favored by many trustees and is a good solution for current subjects, especially with restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Admitted under the ELAN law of November 23, 2018 and the ordinance of November 18, 2020 as a mode of holding General Meetings in their own right, postal voting is a simple solution when face-to-face is not possible. On the other hand, if it constitutes a good solution of “recourse”, it poses an operational complexity when it becomes more massive and recurrent and strongly limits the debates and decisions taken in general assembly.

… and also a vector of frustration for the co-owners

Very often, postal voting is a vector of frustration for the co-owners. Sending the paper form too late, delays by La Poste, or lack of debate play against correspondence. How to discuss, debate and hear the arguments of each by simple exchange of mail? A fortiori, for a “late” general assembly in this year marked by the Covid?

By its binary nature (for / against), the general meeting by correspondence creates a blur on many subjects which require more than a simple “for” or “against”. This can work very well for certain subjects, but the validation of an investment or the choice of a service provider cannot be done without debates, exchanges and explanations. The risk is then of not being able to interpret the votes, or of having to postpone work and decisions.

“In short, the debates between co-owners bring a qualitative dimension to the resolutions voted on that it is not possible to reproduce in the postal vote. Hence the need for digital to exchange more, in addition to mail order,” explains Mikael Asseraf, co-founder of Hello Syndic.

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For example, if 3 service providers and quotes are proposed at a general meeting, a debate ensues before submitting one or more options to a vote. With postal voting, how do you vote “for” or “against” the following resolution: “The General Meeting approves the company’s estimate…”?

A risk of fraud

Finally, postal voting is still very difficult to verify in practice and can open the way to fraud or not taking certain votes into account.

“ We have been preparing for more than 6 months a general meeting with our historical trustee. The general meeting was finally held in the form of a postal vote with a real imbroglio on the votes, which could not be verified. To the point that the GA is considered void by all the co-owners. We have asked for a new General Assembly to make clear decisions and also to change the trustee”, explains Tiphanie, member of the Syndic Council of a 42-lot condominium in Montreuil.

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Digital AGM, an ideal solution or complement

The pandemic has enabled some trustees to deploy the general meeting more systematically digital. A solution clearly favored by the co-owners since 60%* of them, i.e. a large majority, declare themselves ready to participate in an AGM by videoconference (IFOP study for Hello Syndic). In fact, only 20%* have been offered a digital format over the past year.

Sometimes criticized and declared as ineffective for condominiums bringing together a large number of co-owners, the digital GA could however meet the expectations of more than 85% of condominiums in Metropolitan France made up of 20 units or less (INSEE 2017 figure). With up to twenty co-owners connected, the solution is effective, reassuring and appreciated by co-owners. Beyond that, the video requires adjustments in order to guarantee the fluidity of the debates.

Unlike correspondence, the digital GA allows the implementation of authenticated electronic voting which provides security and confidence to all co-owners. A reassuring factor for many co-owners and members of union councils in particular. Finally, it is obvious that the debates and decision-making essential to any meeting of co-owners are more fluid in video than by binary response via mail. Electing a union council or even choosing a service provider are subjects clearly suited to video.

“We held a Digital General Assembly and this allowed us to debate in good conditions. We are even thinking of using it in the future, rather than going back to a face-to-face GA”, explains François, president of the Syndical Council (55 years old) of a 26-lot condominium in Vincennes.

When will there be lasting and non-emergency solutions?

The next few months will certainly not make it possible to come together and after a dashed year for many co-ownerships (only 35%* of co-owners have had an GA in 2020), it is time to find lasting and not emergency solutions. Expectations in this post-Covid year are key and digitalization will become a non-negotiable prerequisite for many co-owners who have accumulated postponements.

*Figures from an external study conducted by IFOP for Hello Syndic with a sample of 3,062 people, representative of the French population aged 18 and over, from which a sub-sample of 1,027 owners was drawn of accommodation in an apartment building, between September 30 and October 12, 2020, i.e. before the curfew and the reconfinement.