Elections FAQ for APA graduate students

As the next generation of psychology professionals, your voice matters. As part of your membership, you have the opportunity to be involved in decisions affecting your education, training, and future of your field. You can strengthen APA’s future and influence the future of psychology.

Graduate students who have been members of APA for one year or more are eligible to vote in (1) the President-elect nomination process in the spring, (2) President-elect and Board of Directors Member-at-Large election in the summer, and (3) Apportionment Ballot and Bylaws Amendments (if applicable) in the fall. Additionally, APA graduate student members who are members of a Division or a State, Provincial, and Territorial Psychological Association (SPTA) are eligible to vote in Council of Representative elections.

Additionally, all graduate student members of APA are eligible to vote in the APAGS elections each fall as long as they are a member on the day the election starts. For instance, in 2024, if you become a member by October 2, you will be eligible to vote in the APAGS election and the Apportionment and Bylaws Amendments (if applicable). Since voting rosters are typically pulled about six weeks in advance, a ballot will be sent to eligible voting members who contact APA to request one if they joined after the roster was pulled and by the date the election launched. Please note: the roster is updated within a few minutes of purchasing membership. If you recently became a member but have not received a ballot, please contact [email protected].

Students may also be able to vote in elections for Divisions for which they are members, depending on the rules of each Division (See Appendix A for a list of Divisions that allow graduate students to vote, as of May 2024). Please contact the individual Division for more information on their eligibility criteria, process, and timeline for that Division’s elections.

Over the course of the year, if you have been an APAGS member for at least one year, you could receive up to five different ballots, which could include multiple things to vote on for each ballot.

1. The first is in the spring, and it will be the President-elect nominations.
2. The second will also be in the spring, and it will be for Council Representative if you belong to a Division or SPTA .
3. In the summer, you will receive the President-elect and Board of Directors Member-at-Large election ballot.
4. In the fall, you will receive the APAGS election ballot.
5. Also, in the fall, you will receive the Apportionment ballot, and if there are any proposed Bylaws Amendments, these will also be on this ballot.

Graduate students must be APA members for one year or more to be eligible to vote in any APA election (except the APAGS election). To receive a Bylaws and Apportionment ballot, which opens on November 1, 2024, a graduate student must have joined APA by November 1, 2023 (and since we pull the list a few weeks before the election opens, that person will need to contact [email protected] to request a ballot). If you have not been a graduate student member of APA for at least one year, you will only receive a ballot for the APAGS elections in the fall.

The email containing the Council Representative ballot will come from [email protected]. The email containing the other ballot(s) will come from [email protected]. Check your email’s spam or junk folder in case the ballot(s) were accidentally redirected there.

If you believe that you are eligible to vote in the President-elect nominations in the spring, President-elect and Board of Directors Member-at-Large elections in the summer (i.e., you have been a graduate student member for one year), but you did not receive one or more of these ballots by the dates listed in each section below, or if you believe you are eligible to vote in APAGS elections or the apportionment and bylaws ballot (if applicable that year) but do not receive these by the dates listed below for each, please please contact us about general and APAGS elections.

If you believe you are eligible to vote in a Division or SPTA election, but did not receive a ballot, please contact us about division and spta elections.

During the APA Presidential nominations process in the spring, the APA Election Committee will issue an annual call to all voting members of the Association for nominations of candidates for the office of President-elect. The nomination ballots shall provide spaces for nomination of at least three (and no more than five) names of Members to be listed in order of preference.

During the APA Presidential elections process in the summer, the APA Election Committee will email all voting Members of the Association the final ballot, which shall include at least three, and no more than five, nominees for President-elect based on those who received the highest number of votes in the nomination process.

Nominations are made by preferential ballots and are sent on or about March 1. The balloting period closes within 45 days. Note: only APA members are eligible for nomination. Eligible voters are emailed the President Elect nomination ballot and can nominate up to 5 candidates.

The president-elect candidates will be announced in April. These will then be the names you see on the final President-elect ballot in the summer.

Each year the President-elect candidates who opt to submit small biographical statements can be found on the APA candidates page.

The election period will run from August 1 - September 16. You should expect the ballot in August.

Please see APA’s Bylaws, specifically Section 110-8.

In addition to the President-elect candidates, the Board of Directors ballot will include the names of individuals seeking open “member-at-large” positions.

Only Council of Representative members can vote on APA’s Secretary and Treasurer.

Because not all Division elections are run through APA’s election process, please consult the division balloting page, which has more information on the Division officer election process.

Only Division Leaders and SPTA Executive Directors can nominate for Council Representatives and Division and SPTA officers, but depending on graduate student voting rights in that group, you may be able to elect officers for your Division or SPTA. Keep in mind that even if you are eligible to vote in Division or SPTA elections, there may or may not be a ballot in a given year, depending on whether there are openings that year for the offices for which you are eligible to vote. If you have questions about your voting rights in a Division or SPTA, please contact those groups for the most up-to-date information.

Ballots will be sent on or about April 15. Keep in mind that there may not be an election each year for these groups, depending on whether certain offices need to be filled that year.

The Apportionment Ballot is conducted annually to determine the comstudent position of the following years' Council of Representatives (COR), which is the policy making body of APA. Each Division and SPTA is guaranteed one seat on COR. Additionally, each voter has 10 votes that they can allocate between Divisions and SPTAs. You can give all 10 to one group or spread them out between groups. Based on the total number each group receives, the Division or SPTA could be apportioned an additional seat(s). Learn more about apportionment.

A Bylaws election occurs when there is a proposed change in the APA Bylaws, which is why there are Bylaws elections in some years but not in others. The Bylaws serve as the association's constitution and can only be amended by vote of the membership. In the event that any change in the APA Bylaws is proposed, eligible voting members of the association will receive an explanatory statement that will accompany the ballot to vote on the proposed change. See the current APA Bylaws.

The Apportionment ballot voting occurs between November 1- December 16. If there are no Bylaws changes proposed that year, you will only receive the Apportionment ballot.

The Apportionment election and Bylaws change (if applicable) results will be available the first week of January.

To participate in the larger APA elections (e.g., President-elect and Board of Directors), graduate students must be a member of APA for at least one year before they become eligible to vote. In contrast, any graduate student member who is a paid member by the date the election starts is eligible to vote in the APAGS elections in the fall of that same year. The difference between these two eligibility criteria is a result of the fact that graduate students gained the right to vote in larger APA elections in 2020 through a bylaws amendment which included the requirement of one year of membership before voting eligibility.

APAGS elections occur each fall for APAGS members to vote on graduate student members of APA who applied for and were slated to potentially serve as an elected leader on the APAGS Committee, an advisory committee of APA composed of nine elected officers. Elected officers of APAGS serve as one method for students' voices to be heard in APA on a variety of graduate student issues such as financial burdens in education and training and increasing diversity within programs. There is also an application and review process for the appointed APAGS positions for the five APAGS subcommittees for which graduate student members of APA can also apply. Learn about APAGS leadership.

A call for applications for APAGS elected and appointed positions is released each summer with a deadline for applications in the fall. The application process is fully online (self nominations), where you must complete some basic information about yourself, agree to terms and conditions if elected or appointed to serve, confirm your APAGS membership, and upload several items merged as one PDF. You must also meet the eligibility requirements. Please join our listservs, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@apagradstudents), subscribe to our newsletter, and visit our elections website throughout the year to stay up-to-date on available APAGS leadership positions. For any questions regarding the application process, please contact us.

In order to be eligible to run for an elected or appointed APAGS position, you must be 1) an APAGS member, 2) a current master’s or doctoral student in good standing at a regionally accredited institution at the time of application (studying psychology or a related field), and 3) must have at least one academic year remaining in your graduate program at the start of your term. Note: for chair-elect positions, applicants must be enrolled in a doctoral program in psychology. If you have questions regarding eligibility, please contact APAGS.

Each year, you can read statements provided by the APAGS candidates. The statements will also be included in the ballot that you receive.

APAGS Chair-elect and Member-at-large positions are elected, whereas APAGS Subcommittee chairs/vice-chairs and Subcommittee members are appointed because the work of each APAGS subcommittee requires particular experience and expertise in specific areas. To learn more about the elected and appointed positions.

All APAGS members and student affiliates at all levels who pay APAGS dues and who have provided APA with their email address will be sent an email with a unique link that directs automatically to their election ballot. You will be able to vote for one candidate for chair-elect and three candidates for member-at-large positions. If you believe you are eligible to vote in the APAGS elections but have not received a ballot, please check your spam folder. If still no ballot, please contact help.

Ballots will be sent on or about October 2. The election period will run from October 2 - October 30.

The winners of the APAGS election will be announced the first week of November.