For an EMB to operate effectively, its members need to have a status that entitles them to respect from and an equal relationship with the government, the legislature, and society. The head of the EMB especially needs a status that affords her or him access to the highest levels of government, and ensures adherence to the EMB’s decisions. The Chair of the EMB in Pakistan (also known by law as Chief Electoral Commissioner) has the same conditions of service as the Chief Justice, as do his counterparts in numerous other countries. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, and Romania, the chair of the EMB has the rank of Minister, guaranteeing access to the legislature and the government, and in Yemen, the EMB chair has the rank of a Deputy Prime Minister, and EMB members have the rank of Minister.

While it is important that EMB members have a high status, it is also important that members do not then behave as though they are bigger than the EMB institution that they are serving, or come to be regarded by society as ‘the EMB’. Personality-based institutions can be highly polarising. A good practice model for EMB members to follow is to personalise the institution they serve, rather than institutionalise the person or persons leading the EMB.