The term electoral network refers to a system of collaboration among electoral practitioners to find solutions to common problems and to build innovations through sustained sharing of ideas and experiences. Electoral networks are important for supporting electoral managers around the world to cope with the rapidity of change in the environments in which elections take place.

Electoral networks may exist at national level to serve the interests of individual electoral practitioners, at the regional level to promote the interests of various EMBs which exist in a particular region, and at the global level to promote cooperation among EMB networks.

Electoral networks foster capacity development among electoral managers through information and experience sharing, which is a useful input for EMB sustainability. Such networks also serve as useful forums where electoral practitioners address concerns which affect their vocation, such as EMB independence, EMB funding, and the use of technology in elections, to mention but a few thorny issues that can be analysed through collegial sharing of ideas.