There are many phases to the electoral process: in an election, for example, these include the design and drafting of legislation, the recruitment and training of electoral staff, electoral planning, voter registration, the registration of political parties, the nomination of parties and candidates, the electoral campaign, polling, counting, the tabulation of results, the declaration of results, the resolution of electoral disputes, reporting, auditing and archiving. After the end of one electoral process, it is desirable for work to begin on the next. The entire process is described as the electoral cycle, illustrated in Figure 2.

In determining whether a permanent or temporary EMB is appropriate, workloads throughout the electoral cycle need to be considered, and the expense of maintaining a permanent institution has to be compared with the expense and time required to establish a new body for each election. Where a temporary EMB appears appropriate, it is important to consider how institutional memory relating to elections will be maintained. Where electoral events occur regularly—such as regular partial or by-elections and continuous voter registration—or where continuing electoral development work, such as ongoing voter education and information or advocacy of electoral law reform is needed, a permanent electoral institution is justifiable. Countries such as Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa and Thailand maintain permanent EMBs.

Some countries have temporary EMBs that function only during the electoral period. Such countries may follow any of the Independent, Governmental or Mixed Models. In some cases, the governmental EMB has to be temporary because the civil servants who run elections have other full-time duties and are assigned to the EMB only during electoral periods. However, some countries with a Governmental Model of electoral management, such as Sweden, maintain a small skeleton staff to take care of electoral issues between elections, including updating the electoral register. In some countries that use the Mixed Model, the component governmental EMB is permanent in order to preserve institutional memory, while the component independent EMB is temporary and is set up only during electoral periods.

Countries such as Bulgaria, Niger and Romania, whose electoral management follows the Independent Model, have permanent central EMBs that coexist with temporary subordinate EMBs at lower levels. The Russian Federation has permanent EMBs at both the federal and constituent unit levels, and Georgia has permanent EMBs at both the central and district levels. Both have temporary EMBs at the local level during the election period. Depending on the responsibilities of the subordinate EMBs and the logistics required, these structures are usually appointed from one to six months before polling day. Permanent EMBs were created in much of Central and Eastern Europe following encouragement from the Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials (ACEEEO) (now the Association of European Election Officials) and the recommendation of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) election observer missions that such structures would enhance institutional memory and operational continuity.