The process for appointing members of any EMB is generally defined in electoral law, and the recruitment and selection methods may also be defined in the electoral legal framework. Appointment may be by the head of state, a judicial body, the executive, or in some cases by political parties, and may be consultative or unilateral. Recruitment and selection may be from closed nominations or from open advertising, may include some form of public or private test of merit and integrity, and may be from a pool of nominees or only the exact number of nominees required. Recruitment processes may be able to be more open for expert-based EMBs than for EMBs whose membership is wholly or partially nominated by political parties.