Deferred Elections

(1) As soon as it is established that the election cannot be conducted on account of the death of a candidate, as a result of force majeure, or for any other reason, the Constituency Returning Officer shall cancel the election and publicly announce that a deferred election is to take place. He or she shall inform the Land Returning Officer immediately and the latter the Federal Returning Officer.

(2) If the candidate of an approved nomination dies before the election, the Constituency Returning Officer shall request the spokesperson to nominate another candidate in writing within a given period. The replacement nomination must bear the personal handwritten signatures of the spokesperson and the deputy spokesperson. The procedure laid down in Section 21 of the Federal Elections Act need not be observed, nor are the signatures specified in Section 20 subsections (2) and (3) of the Federal Elections Act required.

(3) The deferred election shall be conducted with the voters’ registers compiled for the general election, in accordance with the nominations approved for the general election, subject to the provisions of subsection (2) above, in the polling districts and polling stations designated for the general election, and before the Electoral Boards appointed for the general election.

(4) If the deferred election takes place on account of the death of a constituency can-didate, the polling cards issued for the general election shall not be valid for the deferred election. The competent authorities shall initiate and effect their replacement. Section 28 subsection (3) shall be applied. New polling cards shall be issued in accordance with the general provisions. Any ballot letters with old polling cards which have been received by the authorities designated in Section 66 subsection (2) shall be collected by them and destroyed, with due regard to the secrecy of the ballot.

(5) If the deferred election takes place because the election could not be conducted as a result of force majeure or for any other reason, the polling cards issued for the general election shall remain valid for the deferred election. New polling cards may only be is-sued by municipalities of the area in which the deferred election is taking place.

(6) In individual cases, the Land Returning Officer may make adjustments in line with special circumstances.

(7) The Land Returning Officer shall make the date of the deferred election public.