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Succession to Bundestag seats

Successors to parliamentary seats are candidates who enter the German Bundestag and succeed elected candidates or members of parliament on their death, refusal to accept election or withdrawal from the German Bundestag.

Constituency candidates who receive the most first votes but win no seat due to insufficient second votes will be entitled to succeed to a seat vacated by a Bundestag member of their party who represented a constituency or held a Land list seat.

The order of succession of a party’s constituency candidates who have won the most first votes but no parliamentary seat depends on their shares of first votes. Only when all these candidates have filled vacated seats will successors from the party’s Land list be considered. In this case, the candidate occupying the first non-allocated place on the party's list acquires a right of succession.

Candidates who have since resigned membership of the party in question or have become members of another party may not become successors. The same applies to candidates who were nominated as constituency candidates for that party. Candidates on the list who, as elected constituency candidates, have refused Bundestag membership or have resigned as members of the German Bundestag are also disregarded.

If there are no more candidates on the list, the seat vacated by the Bundestag member will remain vacant.

However, it is immaterial to the succession issue whether the person vacating the seat has left the party that made the nomination on the basis of which they were elected. The initial nomination continues to determine the succession to the Bundestag seat. This also holds if the Bundestag member has left a parliamentary group.

Individuals who leave their party after attaining Bundestag membership will not lose their seats. This is prohibited by the principle of free mandate enshrined in Article 38 of the Basic Law.

The respective Land returning officer decides who enters the Bundestag as a successor to a seat.

Last update: 9 February 2026