It is election time for APA President and Board of Directors. The SIOP leadership offers the following questions and answers to assist SIOP members who are eligible to vote in APA elections.
Voting begins on September 15, 2021 and is open for 45 days.
- What are the election rules?
Just like the voting process for SIOP President, you vote by ranking candidates from most preferred to least preferred. This process allows for instant-runoff voting when no candidate has a majority of votes in a round of vote counting. A subsequent round of vote counts is made when the last-placed candidate is eliminated and their votes are redistributed across remaining candidates, based on those voters’ rank-order. Thus, it is important to rank-order as many candidates as you can.
For more information about the voting process, go to: http://apa.org/about/governance/bylaws/rules-110.aspx
- Are there any SIOP members running for APA President this year?
No SIOP members are candidates for APA President this year.
- Is SIOP endorsing any candidate this year?
YES! SIOP has formally endorsed Mary Ann McCabe. She has demonstrated a good grasp of applied psychology and was able to offer very specific suggestions and ideas in response to our questions. She has demonstrated thoughtfulness and an ability to think about psychology beyond health services. Also, her experience with federal funders, foundations, and policymakers should be helpful to advancing advocacy initiatives.
- What if I like one candidate best? Should I just rank that person #1 and leave the rest unranked?
No! Please rank order the others for your vote to influence subsequent rounds.
- What happens if I don’t rank all candidates?
Not ranking a candidate guarantees that person will never receive your vote. However, not ranking two or more candidates will exhaust your ballot should vote counts go to late rounds with your unranked candidates. Thus, if the last rounds only consist of your unranked candidates, you would not have any influence over the final outcomes.
- Any last words of advice?
Yes – VOTE! Recent APA Presidential elections have been decided with a small number of votes (6744 votes in the 2019 election). There are about 800 SIOP members who are eligible to vote in APA elections. We can make an impact on APA elections --- Please vote before the deadline! For information about all candidates, go to: https://0-www-apa-org.library.alliant.edu/about/governance/elections/president-elect-candidates
APA Elections Q&A Page