2026 APPNA ELECTIONS

APPNA members contesting for Board of Directors and President Elect for 2026 shall abide by the following guidelines. NEC shall announce Election Timeline at the beginning of the election process as per APPNA Constitution and Bylaws.
NOMINATION & SLATE OF CANDIDATES
1. NEC follows the election timeline and nomination process as outlined in APPNA
constitution and bylaws.
2. The NEC shall not have the authority to decline a candidate that otherwise meets the
nomination requirements set forth in APPNA Bylaws and election rules and procedures.
3. NEC shall obtain in writing the candidate’s consent that this Code of Conduct is binding under all circumstances.
4. NEC will announce the slate of candidates to membership in a timely fashion as outlined in the Bylaws and election rules and procedures.
5. Each candidate shall provide his/her CV on a standard one-page document to be received by APPNA office at least 15 days prior to ballot mailing date. Candidates may use both sides of the one-page document. The CV will be uploaded on the election website.
VOTERS LIST
1. Membership Committee after its approval by the BOD will release the voters list to the election company with a copy to the NEC chair.
2. For the election of the BOD and President-Elect for 2027, the voters list valid on July 31st, 2026, shall be used – confirmed by Nick and Chair MC
DISPUTES & GRIEVANCES
1. All candidates shall acknowledge the sole jurisdiction of APPNA to resolve all disputes and grievances in the Election Process.
2. Election process is NOT limited to nomination, voting and counting but also includes
electioneering, campaigning, speaking at meetings and all election related activities.
3. The written complaint is lodged with the Nomination and Election Committee, through submission to the NEC Chairman with a copy to the President of APPNA.
4. NEC shall make a written decision to the complainant (within 5 business days) with
copies or directions to other parties in the election process as appropriate.
5. If the issue is not resolved to the satisfaction of the person lodging the complaint, it may be appealed to the Ethics and Grievance Committee of APPNA. This appeal should be filed 48 hours after the decision by NEC.
6. The written appeal shall be submitted to the Chairman of the Ethics and Grievance
Committee and a copy to the APPNA President.
7. The E&G Committee shall issue a written decision to the complainant (within 5 business days of filing of appeal) with copies or directions to other parties involved, as appropriate.
8. All candidates shall agree that upon conclusion of APPNA procedures for dispute
resolution, as outlined above the decision arrived at by APPNA will be FINAL and not be
subject to any challenges outside APPNA whether judicial or extra-judicial in any state of the union.
9. It is emphasized that the above appeal process shall take precedence over other business and should be conducted expeditiously.
10. All decisions during the grievance process shall be promptly submitted in writing.
THE CODE OF CONDUCT:
1. It is important for the NEC to provide a level playing field for all candidates and to keep negative campaigning and electioneering to bare minimum, as this can disenfranchise both current members and future members. It is for this reason, NEC recommends that all candidates respect the Code of Conduct (COC) in spirit starting January 1, 2026, and strict implementation of the COC will start when the candidates have signed the affidavit for the COC on May 18, 2026.
2. The NEC shall announce the official slate of candidates. There will be no election
campaigning allowed in the election except outlined in this code of conduct.
3. Candidates shall be allowed to develop a website and/or Facebook Page to post their achievements. Candidates shall be allowed to invite general membership to visit these web pages and/or Facebook page via a link, they can send in their allowable three emails to APPNA membership during election process.
4. Each candidate will be allowed to send three electronic mails. These emails shall be shared with the chair of NEC in advance for approval and APPNA central office will send these emails to general membership.
5. Any System-wide celebration emails and postal mail, e.g., Eid and holiday greetings and similar will be counted towards the allotted mailing for the campaign.
6. All facts stated in campaign mailings shall be verifiable. It is the responsibility of the
candidate to validate their statements by substantial proof, when requested. Failure to
provide this proof shall be considered violation of code of conduct.
7. No letters from supporters are allowed. Any letter/email of support for or against any
candidate can be a ground of disciplinary action against the member, including member’s name removed from the voter list. The NEC can make recommendations to the EGC for disciplinary action and/or termination of membership from the organization.
8. Any “Negative campaigning” by a voter member or candidate shall be referred to the Ethics and Grievance Committee for appropriate disciplinary action and may be ground for revocation of membership from the organization.
9. The candidates shall only participate in debates sponsored by NEC. NEC must approve the Candidate debate format and moderator(s)
10. The candidates shall not take part in any debates arranged by chapters, alumni and component societies or arranged by group of physicians or in any format on social media.
11. The candidates shall not spend or donate money directly or indirectly in any way in APPNA, APPNA component society or APPNA affiliate organization activities.
Charitable donations of any kind are also included in this binding.
12. APPNA will provide up to a half page advertisement for candidates contesting for President Elect and quarter page advertisement for BOD Candidates free of cost in summer publication.
13. The use of APPNA logo in any form of communication by a candidate is prohibited.
14. Paid personal advertisements of any kind are not permissible. This restriction is included but not limited to APPNA meetings and events of component societies. It also includes newspaper Ads, TV Ads, Social media Ads and others.
15. President-elect and BOD debates should take place during the annual summer meeting with the provision of remote attendance for the members who are unable to attend the summer meeting.
16. Candidates for President Elect and BOD may be provided a time slot in the booth designated for the candidates for canvassing and distribution of flyers, etc. during the summer meeting. Both spaces will be provided by APPNA to the candidates. BOD candidates will be given time slots for booth on Friday, and President elect candidates will be allotted time slots for booth on Saturday.
17. NO Robocalls permitted.
VIOLATIONS
1. First violation of this Code of Conduct shall be grounds for a cease-and-desist citation and a fine, not to exceed $1,000 per violation.
2. Second violation of this Code of Conduct will result in fine of $1500.
3. Third violation shall be grounds for removing the candidate’s name from the election allot at the discretion of the NEC.
4. NEC need not give a warning prior to issuing its citation upon a first violation.
5. If the candidate is cited for a violation and all appeals have been exhausted, the violation and candidate’s name can be made public to the membership.
PROPOSED TIMELINE FOR ELECTION YEAR 2026
1. Call for nominations: May 11th, 2026
2. Last date to submit nominations and submit signed affidavit with COC: May 18th, 2026
3. NEC to vet all nominations: May 25th, 2026
4. Nominee acceptance and election fees: May 26th, 2026
5. Last date to withdraw nominations: June 1st, 2026
6. Final list of Candidates (published) June 3rd, 2026
7. Meet and Greet Candidates with NEC – summer meeting – Dates TBA (to be announced)
8. BOD Candidates Debate – summer meeting – Friday July 3rd, 2026 – TBD
9. President Elect candidates’ debate – summer meeting. – Saturday July 4th, 2026
10. Ballot starts on August 3rd, 2026 – (4 weeks after the last day of the summer meeting as per APPNA bylaws)
11. Voting ends on August 23rd, 2026
12. Results announced during Canada meeting or sooner pending BOD approva