EMBs use various secretariat staff recruiting methods. Governmental Model and other EMBs that rely on public service staff may not be free to implement their own recruiting practices. In countries such as Indonesia, they may have to take whatever secretariat staff are allocated to them.

Good practice is to hold an open selection process, advertising widely for candidates and specifying clearly the skills, qualifications, and personal attributes required for each position to be filled. This is possible even where EMB staff are public servants. It is more difficult where Governmental EMB secretariats have part-time or fixed-period electoral tasks, and electoral skills may not be prominent in the profile required of staff.

As organisations that must be an example of equitable action, EMBs need to implement recruitment and staffing policies that are conducive to gender balance in EMB staff, and that promote employment of women to achieve this. Women need to be afforded equal opportunities as men for employment, training, promotion, and benefits for all EMB permanent and temporary positions. This may require the EMB to introduce both gender-sensitive employment practices and training to ensure that all staff are aware of and committed to achieving the benefits of these. Some customary traditions, such as requirements in some societies for separate polling stations for women and men, may affect the details of implementing gender balance.

The implementation of gender balance in an established EMB permanent secretariat may take time and involve careful consideration of policies for filling vacancies. While this constraint does not apply when a new EMB secretariat is being established, the issue of gender balance may be lost in the hurry to find suitable people in recruiting for all levels of a complete EMB secretariat at one time.

Some countries use political parties to assist in identifying suitable EMB secretariat staff. In the USA, it is common for party nominees to participate in election administration, especially at local or ‘county’ level.

One of the biggest recruitment tasks faced in a country is that of recruiting short-term electoral staff, particularly polling station staff. In Hungary, local governments recruit polling station staff. Some EMBs request government ministries to second staff to be approved and appointed by the EMB for short-term contracts. In rural South Africa, traditional authorities are used to identify unemployed youth, who are interviewed by the EMB to assess their suitability for appointment as election officials at local polling stations.

In Mexico, the electoral law requires the EMB to hold a two-stage lottery of all eligible citizens to make an initial selection of temporary staff for polling stations. Those selected are trained, after which a final selection is made, allocating staff to specific roles at polling stations according to their education level. In a few countries, election work is compulsory. If a person is summoned to work as polling station staff, he or she cannot refuse without facing a penalty. Other avenues for recruiting temporary EMB staff for polling station work may be corporations and voluntary organisations.

Screening of candidates for permanent or temporary EMB staff appointment is a necessary component of the recruitment and appointment process and enhances transparency of the process. This screening aims to ensure that staff recruited have the specified qualifications, are of good character, and are not likely to be politically active or otherwise unsuitable. The screening process is best kept simple, quick, and under the control of the EMB, rather than of political parties or other organisations.

Nevertheless, parties can be involved in the process. In some countries, the list of candidates for regional election coordinators and returning officers is circulated to stakeholders, such as political parties, for their endorsement. In Namibia, parties have the right to veto the appointment of any person who holds a party political office and whose impartiality is questionable.