At Bundestag elections, a deferred election shall take place
- if an election has not been held in a constituency or a polling district (because of force majeure, for example),
- if a constituency candidate dies after the admission of the district nomination but before the election.
In the first case, the deferred election shall take place not later than three weeks after the date of the general election, in the second case, it shall take place not later than six weeks after that date.
To date, the provisions pertaining to deferred elections have been applied in the following cases:
| No. |
Election to the ... electoral period |
Date of the Bundestag election |
Date of the deferred elction |
Constituency (polling district, if applicble) |
Reason for defering the elction |
| 1 |
4th |
17 September 1961 |
1 October 1961 |
151 Cochem |
Death of constituency candidate Fritz Klein (SPD) |
| 2 |
5th |
19 September 1965 |
3 October 1965 |
135 Obertaunuskreis |
Death of constituency candidate Erich Henz (AUD) 1 |
| 3 |
5th |
19 September 1965 |
3 October 1965 |
236 Schweinfurt |
Death of constituency candidate Ernst Meier(DFU) 2 |
| 4 |
11th |
25 January 1987 |
1 February 1987 |
141 Groß-Gerau (polling district no. 5 (Okrifteler Straße of the city of Mörfelden Walldorff)) |
Destruction of the ballot box on election day at 5:45 pm by a Molotov cocktail |
| 5 |
15th |
22 September 2002 |
22 September 2002 |
295 Sigmaringen |
Death of constituency candidate Dietmar Schlee (CDU) |
| 6 |
15th |
22 September 2002 |
22 September 2002 |
230 Passau |
Death of constituency candidate Maic-Roland Muth (PDS |
| 7 |
16th |
18 September 2005 |
2 October 2005 |
160 Dresden (I) |
Death of constituency candidate Kerstin Lorenz (NPD) |
1 Aktionsgemeinschaft Unabhängiger Deutscher (AUD).
2 Deutsche Friedens-Union (DFU).
Source: Datenbuch zur Geschichte des Deutschen Bundestages.
Legal bases
Section 43 of the Federal Elections Act (BWG)
Section 82 of the Federal Electoral Regulations (BWO)
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