Preferential Balloting
Background. In the Spring of 1993 the APA membership voted affirmatively in a referendum to amend By-Law #12 of the Association. The newly amended text of By-Law #12 reads as follows:
“The election of Officers, Financial Trustees, and members of the Board of Directors as well as such other Delegates, Representatives, and members of Committees as may be required elsewhere in these By-Laws or in other regulations shall be by mail ballot at the time and in the manner prescribed by the Board of Directors. The nominee who receives the majority* of votes cast for an office shall be declared elected. In the event that the number of candidates for any office makes it possible that no candidate shall receive a majority, the balloting for that office is to be by the “alternative vote” system first described by Thomas Hare, The Machinery of Representation, 1859.”
Voting for an office will be by preferential ballot whenever x number of seats are available and more than x + 1 nominees are offered. The positions eligible for preferential balloting in the 2011 election are: Board of Directors, Nominating Committee, and Professional Matters Committee.
Method of Tabulation. In the first round, each voter’s first choice only is noted and recorded. A nominee who receives a majority* of these first-place votes is declared elected.
If all openings are not filled on the first round of tabulations, a second round is held. In the second round, the second-place votes of any candidate who was declared elected on the first round are distributed to the remaining candidates. If this distribution does not produce a majority for one of the remaining candidates, or if no candidate was elected on the first round, the one candidate with the fewest first-place votes in the first round is eliminated. The eliminated candidate’s first-place votes are then redistributed, with first place assigned to the next ranked candidate on each of these ballots. First choices are then tabulated anew, and any nominee who receives a majority is declared elected.
If all seats are not filled on this round, as many subsequent rounds, repeating the same procedure of the second round, as necessary are held until all seats are filled.
* A majority for successful election by one or more candidates is established by the following formula:
Number of ballots cast / (Number of seats to be filled + 1) + 1 = Majority
For example, if 1,000 ballots are cast and 2 seats are to be filled, the majority would be 334: 1,000/3 + 1 = 334
Last updated July 29, 2011.
