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Text of Letter:
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION MEMORANDUM
TO:
Members of the Council of Representatives, Presidents, Secretaries
and Executive Officers of Divisions and State and Provincial Associations
FROM:
Governance Affairs/Elections Office on behalf of the Committee on Structure
and Function of Council (CSFC)
SUBJECT:
Results of the Apportionment Ballot for Council Representation for
1995
Date:
January 13,1994
This memorandum presents important information about the number of seats your organization will have on the APA Council of Representatives during Council's 1995 legislative year which begins at the close of Council's winter meeting in 1995 and ends at the close of the 1996 winter meeting.
APPORTIONMENT BALLOT
The enclosed table presents the results of the apportionment ballot
for Council's 1995 legislative year broken down by number of point votes
allocated, your organization's percentage of the total vote, your unit's
current number of seats on the 1994 Council, and the number of seats to
which you will be entitled in 1995.
The number of seats to which your organization is entitled is determined by V, Sections 5 and 6 of the APA Bylaws as follows:
Section 5
Each APA Fellow, Member and voting Associate member shall choose the
Division(s) or Article State/Provincial Association(s) through which he/she
elected to have his/her interest represented on Council by allocating,
at the time of the annual dues statement, a total of ten (10) votes to
the Division(s) and/or State/Provincial Association(s) through which he/she
wishes to be represented the following year. However, only Fellows, Members
(or voting Associate members) of the Divisions or State/Provincial Associations
so designated will be allowed to nominate and elect their Council Representatives.
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(202) 336-5500
(202) 336-6123 TDD
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Apportionment Ballot Page 2
Section 6 A Division or State or Provincial Association shall receive
one Council seat for each 1% of the allocated votes, calculated as follows:
Less than 0.5% ...............
0 0.5% to less than 1.5% ..........1
1.5% to less than 2.5% ..........2
2.5% to less than 3.5% ..........3
etc.
If the number of seats to which your organization will be entitled in 1995 is identical to the number to which you currently are entitled, no special action is required by you at this time.
If the number of seats to which your organization will be entitled in 1995 is greater than your current number of representatives, you need to elect additional representatives in the spring of 1994. You will be receiving materials later this month from the Elections Officer to start the nomination and election process. Note that while Council representatives are elected for terms not to exceed three years, provisions should be made for staggering the terms so that approximately an equal number of terms expire each year.
If the number of seats to which your organization will be entitled in 1995 is &than your current number of representatives, but greater than zero, it will be necessary for your organization to adopt rules and procedures to determine which of your current representatives will be recalled. The term of office of the recalled member must be terminated (see Article V, Section 4, APA Bylaws). I
f the results of the apportionment ballot show that your organization received less than 0.5% of total vote, you cannot seat a representative on your own during 1995. However, there is a method of gaining voting representation on Council. The APA Bylaws provide that any group of State or Provincial Psychological Associations or Divisions may, by mutual agreement, associate themselves as a unit for Council representation, i.e, they may form coalitions. The Association Rules specify the following procedures for establishing a coalition.
40-2.1 Any units designated in Article V, Section 1 of the APA Bylaws may, by mutual agreement, associate themselves in a coalition as a voting unit for Council representation.
40-2.2 Coalitions can be formed at any time.
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Apportionment Ballot Page 3
40-2.3 A statement of coalition signed by the presidents of the organizations forming the coalition shall be filed with the APA Recording Secretary.
40-2.4 Coalitions which do not utilize the APA election mechanism shall inform the APA Recording Secretary of the names of their duly-elected or appointed Council representatives by July 15 of the year that precedes their term.
40-2.5 Any voting unit can appear only once on the apportionment ballot. Thus, if a unit decides to enter a coalition with another unit, it cannot appear independently on that ballot. Coalitions on record with the APA Recording Secretary prior to September 1 will appear on the next apportionment ballot. Voting members may cast votes for units within a coalition.The total number of votes for all units of a coalition will determine the number of representatives that coalition will have.
40-2.6 Coalitions can be dissolved by the withdrawal of any unit from the coalition. Notification of dissolution must be received by the APA Recording Secretary by September 1, that is before the Apportionment ballot is mailed to the membership.
40-2.7 Seats on Council shall be allocated only on the basis of the apportionment ballot. Only voting units appearing on the ballot are entitled to seats on the Council determined by that apportionment ballot. An exception to this rule is made for units that receive less than one full vote unit and do not have representation. These units will be permitted to combine their votes after the apportionment ballot is in, so that they can form a coalition and achieve representation, provided that their coalition shows the necessary percentages for one voting unit. Enclosure
(End of letter text)