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Guidelines for the Conduct of
President-Elect Nominations and Elections
A. Eligibility, Published Statements,
Campaign Restrictions
- Eligibility and appropriateness
of members of the Board of Directors to stand for the APA
Presidency. The Board of Directors represents all segments of
APA and, since the Board is a representative body, it is only
reasonable to expect that one or more members of the Board may be
nominated at any particular time. Members of the Board of
Directors are eligible to stand for and accept nominations for the
APA Presidency.
- Eligibility and appropriateness
of standing for the APA Presidency while standing for another APA
office. Individuals serving in the APA Presidency cycle shall
not hold offices within the Association other than the ex-officio
positions that accompany that office. Therefore, (a) candidates
for the APA Presidency shall be restricted from running for any
other elective office, such as divisional offices, within the
Association while they are candidates for the Presidency, and (b)
a person elected to the APA Presidency shall, during the term of
President-elect, President, and Past President, be restricted from
holding any other APA office that is not an ex-officio extension
of the Presidential office.
- Call to membership of
potential presidential nominees. An announcement will be made in the December Monitor informing potential presidential nominees of the opportunity
to speak at the February Council meeting and to submit a brief
statement (50 words or less) that would accompany the
President-Elect Nomination ballot. The deadline for submission of the statement will be January
15.
- Statement on the issues facing psychology. The
candidates' statement accompanying the ballot should be confined
to discussion of issues facing psychology and the APA and should
not exceed 1,000 words. The APA Monitor will provide
coverage of the candidates in a question and answer format. At the
Fall Consolidated meeting, each board and committee reporting to
Council or the Board of Directors will be asked to develop
questions, which will be reviewed by the Election Committee. Six (6) final
questions reflecting important issues to
APA’s various constituencies will be selected and presented to
each candidate. Their
written responses will be edited for APA style by Monitor editors
and returned to the candidates for approval and will appear, in a
table format, over three subsequent issues of the APA
Monitor. The answers will be limited to 100 words each. Each candidate will also be given the opportunity to write
a short statement, not to exceed 300 words, as a lead into their
questions and answers. The
Past President, as chair of the Election Committee, is responsible
for enforcing these limitations.
- Appropriateness of a member of the Board of Directors
endorsing a particular candidate. Since
the Board of Directors is the executive committee of the association
as a whole, it should be viewed as being nonpartisan, and as a
matter of protocol, Board members should not publicly endorse
candidates for the office of President-elect.
- Appropriateness of campaign methods and expenditures.
Expenditure of the candidate's own funds or those
of other individuals or organizations for mass communication has
traditionally been regarded as undesirable and inappropriate. However, it is acceptable for APA divisions, state and
provincial associations, and established continuing coalitions to
give their support to particular candidates in their newsletters or
via electronic communications (electronic mail, electronic bulletins
or faxing) to an established network. Recipients of campaign material that goes beyond such
endorsements should understand that campaigning by expensive mass
communication strains the political fabric of APA, and be wary of
it. The membership is
put on notice that "caveat emptor" applies in regard to
political communications.
- Use of APA mailing labels. The
use of APA mailing labels on behalf of candidates for office in APA,
divisions, state or provincial associations is not approved. Additionally, APA will not sell or provide mailing labels for
campaign purposes.
- Use of list servers (electronic lists).
APA Central Office will not establish, provide, or
sell list servers for campaign purposes.
B. Statement of Compliance with Guidelines
After the Election Committee announces the
candidates, each one is mailed a copy of these Guidelines. Each
candidate is asked to sign a statement acknowledging that he or
she has received the Guidelines and that he or she will report to
the Election Committee immediately any deviations from the
Guidelines of which he or she becomes aware.
C. Promulgation of These Guidelines
The Guidelines in their entirety shall appear in the
December or January and the May issues of the APA Monitor.
Each January the Election Committee will send the Guidelines to
divisions, state and provincial associations, coalitions and
newsletter editors.
The American Psychological Association's Board of
Directors and Council of Representatives have established these
election guidelines for election to the office of President-elect.
They are printed in the Monitor twice a year.
It is the intent of these Guidelines to keep the
amount of campaigning and electioneering for the office of
President-elect within reasonable limits and to assist in the
maintenance of a spirit of collegiality and essential fairness in
such elections. These Guidelines shall apply to the nomination and
election process for the office of APA President-elect.
Revised: March 2001
For more information please write or
call:
American Psychological
Association
Election Office
750 First Street,
NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(202) 336-6087
(202)
336-6123 TDD
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