Since EVE community mostly borrows government policies from the Apache Software Foundation, our election process is no exception. The ASF documentation is really worth a read, but since it covers a much more diverse set of projects than what EVE is, the salient points are summarized below.
We love to see contributors showing commitment. Projects invite committed participants to become committers and help shape the future of a project.
Apache is a meritocracy. Once someone has shown sufficient sustained commitment to a project by helping out and contributing work to it (and the ASF), the project may vote to invite that person to become a committer.
How does one show commitment?
Get involved and contribute via the user and developer email lists, Wiki and forums (if any); extend or improve the documentation; work on bugs listed in the issue tracker or submit code patches. Answering other users' questions is a great way to get started, as is suggesting patches or improvements to Apache project websites.
Note that becoming a committer is not just about submitting some patches; it's also about helping out on the development and user discussion lists, helping with documentation and the issue tracker, and showing long-term interest.