AGM proxy votes by email

 Not entirely sure whether it is legal or not as different Administrators have different views but we send proxy forms out by email with AGM notice, agenda, budget etc. and we were allowed to accept proxies signed, scanned and returned by email or fax if they were returned in time.

At our early meetings some people sent proxies to me by recorded delivery but now our administrator says so long as all the details (date time and place of meeting plus name of community,, names of proxy giver, the address of thier property and the name of the proxy receiver) are in the e-mail it is OK.

All the votes are recorded and the names of the proxy holders are shown in the minutes so if someone objects the votes can be changed within the 10 day period following the publishing of the minutes.

 Proxy voting is a very debatable subject with regard to the validity of the vote. The reason for this is Spanish law is rather wide in it"s description of the same.

In order to be certain to vote with a proxy you should take a copy of the escuteria of the property owner who wishes you to represent  them to the meeting. This contains the NIE or passport number of the owner & their signature which should match the prescribed form. Where there are mutiple owners of a property the statutes of the community can state that the first signature on the escuteria is to sign the proxy voting form.So be careful to establish this point if applicable.

Proxy voting by email or fax is allowed in the communities I administrate as we encourage owners to take a interest in their community & providing we have a scanned signature on the form I am happy to accept it under the usual conditions of community fees paid up to date.

The type of form is important that it allows the proxy holder to vote on the points of the agenda individually rather than give either the President , Administrator or a Member open consent to vote as they choose to.How ever in Spanish law the latter must be available as a option in the form.

F.Parkinson Jacksons Administradores

Thanks for all these very valid points on the forum, having discussed it with our own administrators they took advice and are happy to accept emails sent to them from owners giving all their personal details and instructions for their proxy.

We all now live in a digital world and whilst forms and letters are still considered valuable tools in communication, we all have to move forward electronically and owners will see their proxy registered on the minutes and could then question any fraud concerns they may have with the administrator. 

We shall be sending out a pre-formatted email to all owners following the distribution of AGM details, accounts and reports.

I ( insert your name) will be unable to attend the 2012 AGM for Golf Gardens Miraflores II on Monday 28th of May at 11am at the Venta del Golf restaurant.

I would like to appoint (the President or name of another owner) as my proxy for any voting issues that may be required.

Intercala , as Administrators and officials at the AGM, please accept this email as my authority to issue this Proxy Vote

(Your full name and apartment number )

Thanks everyone again for all your input

Ian 

http://www,golfgardensmiraflores.co.uk

Not allowed to send proxy votes by email to our administrators i  was told this didn't conform with legal requirements in Spain.   

 Semo ; There is nothing in the Spanish law to prohibit proxy voting by email providng the document has a original signature when scanned.

The administrador is restricticting the members voting by applying this policy. Ask for a addition to the order of the day in a Agenda  point to be voted on by the community to allow email & fax proxy votes. 

Finally you could always vote for a new Administrator.

F.Parkinson Jacksons  Administradores 

Our community has always allowed email proxy, another way to do it is print off proxy sign it and photograph it with a digital camera next to your passport and send the document to the administrator, president and your proxy.

We also agreed at an AGM thet in order to save money on postage invites and minutes could be sent via email.

I am sure your bank will be pleased to know that!

Jacksonsadmin,

Sorry i didn't make myself clearer.  Our administrator does allow email proxy vote as long as it contains a scanned signed copy of the proxy vote.  I thought the original poster was looking to know if an email on it's own would suffice as this would be classed as an electronic signature - this is not allowed by our administrator as ithis does not conform to Spanish law.  

Intersting and differing views on this, some administartors will accept email proxy votes and others wont.

Fortunately we have had discussions with our administrators and they are happy that email proxys received from an owner stating their name, address and who they wish the proxy to be allocated to "sent to them from the owners email address on record" and not to the proxy direct will be acceptable as the minutes will record these proxy and can be amended if the owner feels their proxy has been fraudently created.

Following the distribution of AGM information, agenda and accounts both by email and regular post, we are about to follow these up with email reminders to attend and if not issue a proxy and the way to do it.

Thanks for all your input on this....the conclusion is ............it appears its down to the administrators own call!!