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.
Eligibility, Published Statements, Campaign Restrictions
1. 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.
2. 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 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.
3. 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 final questions reflecting important issues to APA's various constituencies will be selected by 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-in to his or her questions and answers. The Past President, as chair of the Election Committee, is responsible for enforcing these limitations.
4. 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.
5. 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 or inappropriate. However, it is acceptable for APA divisions, state 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 extensive 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.
6. Use of APA mailing labels. The use of APA mailing labels on behalf of candidates for office in APA, divisions, or state associations is not approved. Additionally, APA will not sell or provide mailing labels for campaign purposes.
7. Use of list servers (electronic lists). APA Central office will not establish, provide or sell list servers for campaign purposes.
A. Statement of Compliance with Guidelines
After the Elections 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.
B. 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 associations, coalitions and newsletter editors.
