The procedure for appointing the EMB secretariat varies. In countries which use the Governmental or Mixed Model, elections are implemented by the executive through a ministry or local authorities. The secretariat staff of the EMB are normally public servants, appointed by the executive through the same rules and regulations which apply to all public service appointments, and subject to public service policies on rotation, training, and dismissal. There is commonly no mention in the electoral law of these issues.

Such public servants may be engaged in election administration full time. On the other hand, they may have other duties during electoral off-seasons and only be engaged in electoral work during elections. They are then deployed or seconded to the electoral office to assist with various tasks, such as boundary delimitation, voter registration, voter education, political party and candidate registration, voting, and vote counting.

For Independent Model EMBs, in some countries the secretariat staff working for the EMB are directly appointed by the EMB under staffing structures and conditions determined by the EMB, while in other countries they are public servants and their salaries and conditions of service are linked to the public service. Even where secretariat staff are public servants, they may hold statutory appointments under electoral law.

The extent to which the EMB enjoys powers to hire and fire its public servant staff can be an indication of the extent to which the EMB is independent of the government. In countries where the chief electoral officer is the EMB’s chief executive, he or she may be appointed by the president. A recent external review of the 2004 Botswana general elections recommended that the power to appoint the EMB’s chief executive should be vested in the EMB rather than the president.

In some countries, the staff of the EMB are all public servants. All EMB appointments can, for example, be linked to public service salaries and conditions of service. The EMB may then determine the conditions of service for temporary election staff, such as polling station staff. In some cases, the remuneration of polling staff may have to be approved by the Treasury. In Canada, the EMB’s returning officers (managers) at the electoral district level are appointed by the government and not by the EMB. This practice has been regarded as a weak link in electoral administration, especially in Canada (see case study).

Critical issues to consider when determining whether to use public servants as EMB secretariat staff are those of political neutrality and job fit or skill levels. Public servants may be publicly regarded as associated with or easily influenced by the government, on whom they depend for their appointment, promotions, and salaries, thus affecting the credibility of the EMB. Strong Independent or Mixed Model EMBs can overcome this impression.

In many countries, public servants may also not be highly trained or, due to infrequent work on electoral matters or to public service rotation policies, not technically skilled in electoral tasks. Blending skills available within the public service with outside appointment and consultants can assist in raising skill levels. In a number of countries, including Indonesia, the EMB has successfully employed consultants and contractors for voter information and information technology (IT) tasks, who have transferred skills to the EMB’s public service staff.