A poll of more than 30,000 APA members finds that a substantial majority favor maintaining the current campagin guidelines or adding further restrictions on campaign practices. Less than 16 percent of respondents told APA that they want to see all limits on campaign practices banished.

Each year the APA Elections Committee and APA leaders hear complaints about the election process. Of late many have focused on the intrusive nature of candidates’ campaigns and the time and expense commitments needed to run for APA office. Others have argued that candidates should be able to campaign unfettered by rules and limits.

To get a clear picture of just where members—not just the few who take the time to register complaints—stand on the issue of campaign practices, an ad hoc APA committee charged with reviewing election procedures sent a questionnaire with approval by the Board of Trustees to all eligible voters. They were asked to register their views on the current election system and on aspects that they would like to see either further limited or completely unlimited.

The questionnaire was mailed in September. A total of 30,791 members were polled, and the response rate was 16.3 percent. While the response rate disappointed the ad hoc committee, the polling firm that administered the survey said that for the number of questionnaires sent out, the results are "valid and statistically significant," according to the committee’s report to the Board in October.

The responses were divided into four generally age-based groups: members-in-training, early career psychiatrists, later career psychiatrists, and senior psychiatrists. An analysis that totaled the responses of these groups was also presented.

Past Assembly Speaker Al Herzog, M.D., cochair of the ad hoc committee, noted that responses were extremely consistent among the four member subgroups. Overall, 32.7 percent of members said they wanted APA to stick to the current election system, while 24.2 percent called for more restrictions on campaign activities, and 15.7 percent wanted all restrictions removed. (The remainder did not register an opinion on this question.)

In addition to asking about general election guidelines, the survey asked members to provide their views on whether 11 specific campaign practices should be banned, limited, or completely unrestricted.

Except for two items that involved candidates’ appearances at professional meetings during the campaign season, a majority of respondents favored maintaining some limits on the campaign practices or barring them outright. The two exceptions were for "attendance by candidates at professional meetings during the campaign" and "presentations by candidates in their professional capacity at professional meetings during a campaign." Nearly 54 percent said the former should be unrestricted, and about 51 percent thought the latter should be unlimited.

Members appear to object to e-mail from candidates more than other campaign tactics. Two of the items, "use of unsolicited e-mail" and "use of e-mail lists (list serves)," provoked the strongest call for APA to ban them. About 43 percent wanted to see both practices disallowed, with another 33 percent saying that APA needs to set some limits on these types of e-mail.

After hearing Herzog’s description of the survey results, the Trustees voted to refer the findings to the Elections Committee "to guide its decisions when it reviews the guidelines after the 2001 election and makes recommendations to the Board."