EMB members need a very high level of management skills and commitment to maintaining integrity under pressure. Ideally, an EMB should include members with a wide range of the skills needed to ensure that it can function effectively, such as legal, communications, education, logistics, technology and corporate management skills. Public confidence in EMBs is enhanced where the electoral legislation contains (1) qualifications for appointment to EMBs that are clearly defined and appropriate for the complex task of managing electoral processes impartially and (2) selection and appointment mechanisms that are transparent and based on the candidates’ merits. The mode of selection and appointment, and the tenure, of EMB members vary by country. Details of the composition, appointment and tenure of EMB members are available in Annex A.
There are various titles for EMB members; each has its own nuances that are related to the basis, role and powers of the policymaking members of the EMB. In Canada, the chief electoral officer is both the chief and sole policymaker and the head of the administration (secretariat), and is the sole EMB member. The frequently used term ‘commissioner’ is not applied consistently. In many countries that use the Independent or Mixed Model, EMB members are referred to as commissioners. In Australia, the electoral commissioner is both the head of the secretariat and a full voting member of the EMB (although not the head of the EMB), while the deputy and assistant commissioners are the staff of the secretariat. In India, the EMB has three members, the chief election commissioner and two election commissioners, and the most senior members of the secretariat are known as deputy election commissioners. In Francophone countries and Latin America, an EMB head may be termed ‘president’, and in Latin America the term ‘councillor’ is sometimes used to describe EMB members.
The chairs of EMBs in Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan, who by law are known as chief electoral commissioners, serve as the EMBs’ chief executive. The role of such a chair is similar to that of an executive chair or executive director in the corporate world. Unlike chairs in some other EMBs, this type of chief electoral commissioner has executive powers and is more ‘hands on’ in directing the electoral process. Although he or she may be assisted by other commissioners and the secretariat, the chief electoral commissioner in these countries will have the final say in matters of finance and administration, and also on key aspects of the electoral process.
