The term ‘stakeholder’ refers to those individuals and groups who depend on the organisation to fulfil their own goals and on whom, in turn, the organisation depends on for legitimacy. (University of Auckland, 2005). Such individuals and groups may have a multitude of interests, expectations, and demands as to what a particular organisation must provide to society. In short, stakeholders are those who affect and are affected by the actions of an organisation.

In the context of the EMB, stakeholders are those individuals and groups that have an interest or stake in the EMB operations. The word ‘stake’ here means a risk or a benefit which arises from the EMB actions. For example, because of the stake (loosing or winning) which political parties have in an election, they will insist that the EMB manage the polls in an impartial manner. Since political parties possess a stake in EMB activities, such as the way it runs elections, they are EMB stakeholders. Primary EMB stakeholders are those who directly affect or are directly affected by the EMB’s activities, policies, and practices. The following can be considered to be an EMB’s core stakeholders:

• political parties and candidates;
• EMB staff;
• government ministries;
• legislatures;
• electoral dispute resolution bodies;
• domestic and international election observers;
• media;
• voters and prospective voters;
• civil society; and
• the donor community and electoral assistance agencies

Secondary stakeholders of the EMB are those who, although part of the environment in which the EMB operates, are more loosely connected with the EMB, such as EMB suppliers, the public at large, and international networks.