The overriding consideration when appointing EMB secretariat staff is a fair selection procedure that chooses the most suitable candidates. An EMB may often delegate the power of appointment to the head of the secretariat or one of its members, who may then delegate the appointment of lower- ranking officials to other secretariat staff. The appointment of temporary staff for voter registration and polling station work is often done by election committees or returning officers, or their equivalents, at the electoral district or local level.
It is good practice to require EMB staff to sign the EMB’s code of conduct as a condition of appointment. It is also good practice to inform the public about senior appointments to the EMB and its secretariat by placing this information on the EMB website, and in newspapers and other media. To speed the integration of new staff into the EMB, it is important that the organization develops a comprehensive orientation programme that is compulsory for all new staff within the first weeks of their appointment.
In some countries, such as Mexico, the EMB has full hiring and firing powers over its secretariat staff. The law requires that all management, supervisory and technical officials of the EMB are members of the Professional Electoral Service, which is essentially a specialized civil service devoted entirely to electoral work. Citizens may gain provisional access to the service by taking training courses, winning a contest for membership or passing an examination. Full membership can only be obtained after passing required annual performance evaluations, undertaking further training and being involved in managing an election. Initial recruits in 1992 were obtained through responses to a national media campaign.
