M.I. from New Jersey writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
We have a 5-member Board. After the Annual meeting, the Directors nominate and vote on officers’ positions. If a Director is nominated to be President of the Board and 2 directors vote yes, and two directors vote no, does the Director nominated to be President, and who is willing to serve as President, vote “yes” to break the tie?
Mister Condo replies:
M.I., unless your governing documents or state law prohibit the Board member from voting for him/herself, I see no issue with the vote. After all, the reason there are 5 Board members is to avoid 2-2 ties. If the President nominee recused him/herself from the vote then the tie would stand and the vote would have to be held again. The reality is that the 3-2 vote is an ideal way to prevent a Board stalemate where it would be hard for the Board to conduct any business because achieving majority would be challenging. Democracy is alive and well in your condo. All the best!