When OPA decided to hire a firm across the country in Washington State to handle the 2023 Board of Directors election, including printing, mailing, and counting of election ballots, association members had valid concerns over mailing times and other issues. The Board of Directors ignored those concerns.

Association members Sherrie Clifford and Amy Peck, representing a Facebook group known as ROC, were outspoken in their opposition. Some of their concerns were certainly valid - cross-country mail delivery problems, no in-person supervision of the process by the Election Committee, no in-person observation by association members, elimination of a ballot dropbox at the police station, much higher costs, etc.

OPA's contract with Election Trust called for all ballots to be in the mail to association members by July 11. Around July 17, Dave Walter and other members of OceanPinesForum.com began asking why no ballots had been received. We now know the answer - Election Trust did not mail the ballots until July 18, a week later than stipulated in their contract. OPA has offered no explanation as to why the contractor mailed a week late.

On July 24, Clifford and Peck released a podcast focusing on their concerns about the OPA election process.

Peck sarcastically posted on Facebook, "At this point, the board majority should just handpick their drinking buddies and save us some money."

Clifford posted to OceanPinesForum.com, "WOW - one SCREW UP after another with this election!!! No more secrecy as your ballot is returned to an office building location (no longer to a secure PO BOX) and can also now be tampered with based on your name and who you voted for... Not OK."

Peck also wrote, "It's difficult to trust this election or have confidence in the contractor. There is no reason whatsoever to have my name on the envelope unless you want to make it easier to lose my envelope or mark it late....  Are certain homeowners envelopes going to go missing? Be marked late?"

Such comments from Clifford, Peck, and others smack of paranoia. Interestingly, Amy Peck was a board member and a candidate last year when OPA experienced its worst election process on record, with an unknown number of valid votes, enough to potentially change the resultant board majority and current corporate officers, not even counted.

Now sources say Sherrie Clifford, listed as a "Group Expert" on Facebook ROC, recently wrote, "Anyone going to Banbridge (sic) Island Washington to be present during the Ballot Counting process?"

Former board member Josette Wheatley responded, "Sherrie I believe there is a large gathering planning on it. Discussion among many is under an IM. Call you later if you want to book with the crew."

While the OPA Board of Directors' decision to utilize a contractor in Washington State has not gone as smoothly as planned and may have been an unfortunate knee-jerk decision, over-the-top accusations, conspiracy theories, and sarcasm are not helpful.

Clearly, there are OPA political battles at work here. This is especially obvious as there is no chance the coming election will cause any change in control of the Board of Directors. The only question is whether or not the election results in a five-member or six-member majority supported by the Get Involved Facebook group - a significant achievement in the annals of OPA politics. Peck and Wheatly both lost bids for election to the board last year to candidates supported by Get Involved.

Regardless of the political battles, here are some of the issues of concern:

1. Ballots were mailed a week late. Who at OPA was watching the store?
2. The included announcement of the annual meeting said it would be in the golf clubhouse. Not so.
3. Owner name on return envelope. Not necessary.
4. No mention of the police station ballot dropbox option.
5. Incorrect ballot due date in the voting instructions. Should have been August 9 per Resolution M-06.
6. No in-person supervision of ballot counting by the Election Committee, or in-person observation by association members.

On July 24 OPA issued a press release, acknowledging "the recent delay in members receiving their election ballots" and the immediate implementation of a ballot dropbox at the police station.

On July 26 OPA issued a press release stating, "The Ocean Pines Association Annual Meeting has been moved to the Assateague Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center on 235 Ocean Parkway. The meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 12 at 9 a.m." Doug Parks wrote to an association member saying the ballot package letter referencing the annual meeting at the golf clubhouse was a mistake. Interestingly, the ballot package meeting notice letter was signed by Parks. The bylaws say that the announcement should come from the corporate Secretary, currently Stuart Lakernick.

Hopefully, all eligible voters had a ballot in hand by the end of the week of July 23. Do not delay voting after your ballot is in hand. If returning via mail, your ballot must be in Washington State by August 8. For the OPA police department dropbox, no later than 4 pm on August 8.

OPA vice-president Rick Farr is the board liaison to the Elections Committee. Farr responded to Sherrie Clifford on OceanPinesForum.com with, "As you know, any new process has minor hiccups; this is no more no less than that, and will be worked out."

To a certain extent, Farr is correct. However, ramifications of the late mailing are unknown until after the election, especially invalidated late return ballots. Regardless, some of these issues, minor hiccups or not, should be addressed. Post-election, OPA must take a serious look at how our elections are handled. We need a quick return to a process similar to what worked for decades until the fiascos of the last few years as a result of misguided attempts to improve on what worked. Some bylaws revisions may be in order.

The answer is not in Washington State. Perhaps an ad hoc blue-ribbon committee of some sort, with participation by OPA legal counsel, meeting only in public, with full transparency and association member input with final recommendations before end-of-year.

One thing is painfully obvious, the board's goal of restoring association member confidence in OPA's election process this year failed miserably.