APA 2025 Election Guidelines for Candidates and Supporters

The intent of the guidelines is to encourage fair and open campaigning by APA members on a level playing field by:

All APA members are expected to abide by the APA Election Guidelines in APA elections, including in their capacity as officers and members of other organizations. APA requests that other organizations adhere to the intent of the campaign guidelines and provide fair and equitable coverage of opposing candidates.

The Elections Committee investigates any potential violation by a candidate or supporter of which it becomes aware, and reports violations to the Board of Trustees. The procedures used by the Elections Committee to investigate and report campaign violations are found in the APA Operations Manual and will be sent to candidates with these Election Guidelines.

Campaigning is defined as any attempt to influence a potential voter’s vote. Campaigning includes mentioning one’s candidacy or making any statement that might be interpreted as a position statement reflecting what actions the candidate would take if elected. It does not include appearances made as part of one’s normal work activities or individual communication through any medium (email, mail, phone call) by a candidate. Mass emails (one email to more than one recipient) are discouraged. If a candidate wishes to send a mass email, they may not purchase lists or use lists provided by other sources for campaign purposes, unless the candidate shares the list with their opponent. If the list is compiled individually by a candidate from their own personal contact list, they are encouraged to share it, but not required to do so. Permitted campaign activities are specified in this document.

Approved APA-organized campaign activities are as follows:

APA will post candidate messages on a monthly basis to the APA Component Communities.

Candidates and supporters may communicate with each other and coordinate campaign activities. Supporters must abide by these guidelines. However, formal campaign committees (entities that can make statements or take other actions on behalf of the candidate) are not allowed, and candidates may not enter into agreements to campaign together. Merely endorsing a candidate is not a violation of the guidelines if there is no prior commitment or agreement in campaigning together.

Use of APA, Area Council/State Association, or District Branch resources or personnel is prohibited, except to support the election process, including communication of candidate statement to members, provided that the organization shares the statement of both candidates at the same time.

APA, Area Council/State Association, or District Branch funds, services, stationery, or staff may not be used to endorse, support, or promote any candidate; however, District Branch funds—not APA, Area Council, or State Association funds—may be used to support the expenses of candidates invited to the branch meeting for election purposes if both candidates receive the same support. District Branches can host election-related meetings if equal opportunities are made available and both candidates agree to the format.

Permitted APA resources are the APA election website (psychiatry.org/election) and platform used for campaigning and APA election publications.

Use of personal assistants, aides, hired individuals, or other people who are paid by the candidate or their employer to assist in campaigning is not permitted. Unpaid friends and family may campaign for a candidate but must comply with these guidelines.

Permitted forms of campaigning include the following; all others are prohibited. No more than $500 may be spent in campaigning unless the opposing parties agree upon a different total maximum amount of money that can be spent and stay within those limits. Candidates may not use paid or unpaid social networking sites, blogs, and personal homepages for campaign purposes.

A. Electronic messages: There are no limits on the number of campaign messages sent electronically. However, candidates and supporters are advised to use restraint with electronic messages of all kinds, as these are often ill received by voters, especially if voters perceive that they are being spammed. Campaign email messages must have “APA Campaigning” in the subject line as a courtesy, so that recipients may sort out campaign email messages if preferred. Obtaining email addresses is the responsibility of the candidates and their supporters; they are not to be provided by APA, Area Councils/State Associations, or District Branches. Email lists may not be purchased or acquired from another organization or company unless the purchased lists are shared with your opponent promptly upon list acquisition and remain within the agreed budget.

B. Listservs: Candidates may create their own listserv (group email list) to facilitate communication with and among their supporters who have opted in to group emails. Candidates may not use listservs of other psychiatric organizations or knowingly permit another person to do so.

C. Candidate signatures: Candidates may include a single line of text in their signatures to promote their campaign with a hyperlink to their personal candidate website or APA candidate webpage when sending electronic messages.

D. APA website: APA will include information on all candidates (the photos, biographies, and statements provided for the ballot booklet, and links to candidate homepages, if permitted) and on the election itself (campaign guidelines, ballot mailing and return dates, etc.) on its website.

E. Phone: Campaign-related phone calls (including calls made through services such as Skype) may be made from candidates/supporters to individual APA members. Use of automatic calling services (robocalls) or hiring personnel to make such calls is prohibited.

F. Letters and handouts: There are no restrictions on the number of campaign letters, postcards, handouts, and other printed material, but they must be within the agreed upon spending limits.

G. Private discussion: Private election-related communication with colleagues is permitted and not monitored by the Elections Committee. If a third party reports to the Elections Committee about an interaction/communication that may be an election violation, the Elections Committee will review to determine whether a violation has occurred.

H. Invited position statements: Psychiatric organizations may request written position statements or answers to questions for publication in a newsletter or other written medium. Such publication requires that no candidate is endorsed or favored and that all candidates for a given office have been given equal opportunity to respond.

I. District Branch/State Association campaigning—newsletters: District Branch or State Association newsletters may announce as news items, without endorsement, two types of announcements provided opposing candidates have equal opportunity to use this medium:

Editorial endorsement of candidates is prohibited, as are letters to the editor in support of (or opposition to) candidates. Newsletters may print other statements or materials by or about a candidate only if they give equal opportunity to opposing candidates. Newsletters may not be distributed beyond the usual newsletter distribution.

J. Mutual campaign presentations: A mutual campaign presentation is defined as an event where all candidates for an APA office appear together to acquaint voters with the candidates and/or to discuss campaign issues. Candidates may appear through electronic media or in person if both candidates are able to attend and agree to go at their own expense and remain within the agreed upon budget for the campaign.

If all candidates have been given equal opportunity to attend and one cannot attend, the other candidate(s) may present if the absent candidate is given the opportunity to present a pre-recorded message.

Endorsement or favoritism of any candidate is prohibited.

K. Introduction at professional presentations: A candidate’s candidacy may be mentioned when the candidate is introduced for the purpose of giving a professional presentation, provided that the candidate is not endorsed.

There are no restrictions on professional presentations, defined as events where no campaigning occurs and a candidate participates in the dissemination of information through any medium. Running for office should not inhibit or prohibit candidates from conducting their usual professional business.

It is a violation of the APA Election Guidelines for candidates to participate in webcasts or panel discussions, issue press releases, respond to surveys and petitions, or allow publication of interviews relating to the election, unless approved in advance by the Elections Committee. Candidates should not be pressured to respond to or share opinions on unauthorized election activities.

Any request for additional election activity—e.g., surveys, questionnaires, debate, interview requests, etc.—requires advance approval by the Elections Committee. Push polling, in which a person or organization attempts to manipulate or alter prospective voters’ views under the guise of conducting an opinion poll, is not permitted.

Contacting candidates to request money in return for help in the election and threatening to act against the candidate if they do not respond to a request is prohibited and unacceptable. Any attempts to coerce or intimidate candidates should be reported immediately to the Elections Committee. ■