Despite repeated claims by the Big Canoe Property Owners Association (POA) that it values transparency, one key element of community governance remains completely hidden from the very people who fund and live under it: the actual vote totals from POA Board of Directors elections.
For years, Property Owners have been denied access to the most basic metric of democratic legitimacy — the number of votes each candidate received. This isn’t just an oversight. It’s a deliberate suppression of information, historically justified by POA leadership on the grounds that it might “hurt someone’s feelings.”
Let’s be clear: elections are not therapy sessions. They are formal corporate functions, and the results should be disclosed — especially when that disclosure is required under the POA’s own rules.
According to Big Canoe’s Procedure 103.2, the independent audit firm overseeing each election is required to deliver a vote count summary letter detailing the number of votes received by each candidate. That letter is supposed to be attached to the Minutes of the Annual Meeting — which, under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 14‑3‑1602), must be made available to any requesting member.
Yet somehow, that never happens. Not to the public. Not to the community. Not to the people whose votes are counted.
This week, one Property Owner has formally stepped forward to challenge that secrecy.
In a legally compliant demand submitted to POA Corporate Secretary Mark Green and General Manager Scott Auer, resident David Hopkins invoked his rights under Georgia nonprofit law and demanded access to the Auditor Summary Letters for the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Board elections. His request was grounded in both legal precedent and community interest.
“These records are necessary to confirm that the reported election outcomes match the actual vote totals, and to ensure that no improper advantage is given to candidates with inside access to historic vote data,” Hopkins wrote.
You can read the full request here: [DOCUMENT LINK]
You can read the full page BC Policy PDF here: [Procedure 103.2]
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It’s a fair question. Why are vote counts kept secret from the community, but available to insiders like Election Committee members or Finance Committee appointees? Are we to believe that knowing past election margins — and the issues those candidates supported — wouldn’t give future candidates a strategic edge?
Especially in a small, tightly connected community like Big Canoe, vote data is political intelligence.
This year’s election makes the stakes even clearer: one former Election Committee member and two current Finance Committee members are running for Board seats. If they’ve been privy to past vote data — and the community hasn’t — then the field is not level. It’s rigged.
It’s time to stop pretending this is normal or acceptable. The POA cannot keep using “feelings” as a shield against accountability. Transparency means showing your work — especially when it comes to elections.
If the Board is serious about earning community trust, they should do the right thing — release the vote totals for the past three years immediately.
Don’t make Property Owners beg for what is already theirs. Don’t make us file legal demands for what should be a simple matter of integrity. This is your chance to prove the word “transparent” isn’t just something you say. It’s something you do.
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