Every three years, Animation Guild members have an opportunity to run for office or elect fellow members to represent them. The Animation Guild offices up for election include: PRESIDENT, BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVE, VICE-PRESIDENT, RECORDING SECRETARY, SERGEANT-AT-ARMS and 11 EXECUTIVE BOARD members. In October 2025, active members in good standing will have the opportunity to vote for candidates for those offices by secret mail ballot. Elected officers will serve a three-year term, expiring in 2028.

The Nominations

Nominations for the above positions will be taken at the General Membership meeting in September 2025. You must meet the following criteria to be eligible for nomination:

1. You must have joined the Animation Guild on or before September 30, 2023.
2. You must be a member in Good Standing of The Animation Guild as of September 30, 2023, paid up through the third quarter 2025. Please visit this link to review what it means to be in Good Standing per the IATSE Constitution.
3. You must not have been suspended from membership at any point since September 30, 2023.
4. You must not have been on honorable withdrawal at any point since September 30, 2023. 
5. You must have worked in the industry under TAG’s jurisdiction for at least 120 days since September 30, 2022. Time served as an officer or employee of TAG is applicable. (This requirement is listed in the IATSE Constitution and By-Laws in Article 19, Section 4.) 

As there is currently no way to determine eligibility during the meeting, the final determination of eligibility will be made as soon as practicable following the nomination meeting. Eligibility criteria can be found in Article 6, Section 1(i) of the Guild’s Constitution and By-Laws.

Candidates may only be nominated for one position and they must be nominated by an Active member in Good Standing. To be nominated, candidates must be present at the meeting, OR if they cannot be present, they must have indicated in writing to the Recording Secretary their intent to accept nomination. TAG’s Recording Secretary is Paula Spence and she can be emailed at paula.spence@tag839.org.

IMPORTANT: Intent letters cannot be retroactive; they must be received by the Recording Secretary by the call to order of the September General Membership Meeting. No exceptions! Regardless of whether a candidate is present, they must be nominated by Active members in Good Standing present at the meeting. (Candidates present at the meeting may nominate themselves.) Nominations cannot be withdrawn after the adjournment of the September General Membership Meeting. Nominees may announce that they are withdrawing their candidacy, but their name will still appear on the ballot. Any votes for a withdrawn nominee will not be transferred.

The nomination procedure is described in Article 6, Section 2 of TAG’s Constitution and By-Laws.

The Campaign

The Pegboard Statement: The nominees will submit a 100-word statement to be published in a special election edition of The Pegboard shortly after the September membership meeting. The word limit will be strictly enforced! Nominees for contested positions who do not submit statements by the deadline will be listed in The Pegboard with a notation “No statement submitted”. (The special edition of The Pegboard will be published only if the election includes contested positions.)

Candidates may submit their Pegboard statements before or after the nomination meeting. Depending on the number of candidates and the positions being contested, the membership may vote to ask candidates for some positions to submit longer statements. The Pegboard Special Election issue will be mailed out prior to voting.

Labor Department regulations require the Guild to give nominees the right to inspect (but not to copy) a list of the names and addresses of all members employed at Guild shops. This list can be inspected at the Guild office during office hours. Any member who wishes to review the list should contact Steve Kaplan at Steve.Kaplan@tag839.org to make an appointment. 

During the election period, nominees have the right to do a mailing at their own expense to the active membership. Nominees may apply to use the Guild’s mailing list. In addition to printing costs, the nominee will be responsible for the cost of postage. Nominees may pool their resources to share the expense of mailing. Candidates will also be able to do one email to TAG’s membership. (This email will reach most but not all Animation Guild members.) The Guild’s website, blogs, Twitter accounts, and official Facebook page may not be used for any form of electioneering.

Questions about the election procedures, and requests for duplicate ballots, should be addressed to the Election Judge:

Information to come.

The Vote

The American Arbitration Association (AAA)*, which is the judge of the election, will mail the ballots out in October 2025. Ballots will be mailed to all members who are New (in the process of joining), Reinstating, and Active. Only those members who are Active and whose fourth quarter 2025 dues have been received at the Guild office by 5 p.m. in November 2025 will have their ballots counted. Once you have received your ballot, you may vote even if you are not in Good Standing, as long as your outstanding balance is received at the Guild in November 2025. Active members who take withdrawals or suspensions before November will not have their ballots counted.

The AAA is responsible for printing and mailing the ballots, then counting the ballots and certifying the election results. The ballots will list all nominees, with instructions to vote for no more than one nominee for each contested officer position, and no more than eleven nominees for the Executive Board (if contested). Write-in votes will not be allowed, and any write-in attempt will invalidate that portion of the ballot.

The ballots will be mailed from the American Arbitration Association. The mailing will contain the ballot and two envelopes — a ballot envelope, and a return envelope with the voter’s name and address on the back. Ballots must be returned to the AAA in those envelopes and NOT to the Guild office.

Before the ballots are counted, the ballot envelopes will be separated from the return envelopes and shuffled to ensure a secret ballot count. The label on the return envelope is part of the validation process; any attempt to remove or deface the name and address will invalidate the entire ballot.

The election procedure is described in Article 6, Section 3 of the Constitution and By-Laws.

*TAG typically engages AAA to run the election. The organization running the election will be confirmed closer to the election date. 

The Results

Ballots will be counted at the Los Angeles office of the American Arbitration Association. The Los Angeles office of the AAA is located at 725 S. Figueroa St., Suite 400 Los Angeles, CA 90017-5424. Nominees have the right to observe the election themselves, or to appoint no more than one observer who must be an active member. No other observers will be allowed.

Observers must make advance arrangements with the Election Judge. On the Monday following the count, the results will be posted on the Animation Guild website and sent out through the Guild’s email list. The results will be reported at the November General Membership Meeting and in the November Pegboard. The elected officers will be sworn in at the Executive Board meeting in December.

The counting and certification of the ballots procedure is located in Article 6, Section 4 of the Constitution and By-Laws.

*TAG typically engages AAA to run the election. The organization running the election will be confirmed closer to the election date. 

This information is a summary of the Constitution and By-Laws of Local 839. The language of the Constitution and By-Laws will prevail should there be any inconsistencies in the information provided. The 839 Constitution and By-Laws can be found here.