Attainment of Membership of the German Bundestag

(1) An elected candidate shall attain membership of the German Bundestag after the final establishment of the election result for the electoral territory by the Federal Electoral Committee (Section 42 subsection (2), first sentence) with the opening of the first meeting of the German Bundestag following elections. A refusal of membership must be declared in written form to the Land Returning Office before the first meeting. An acceptance with reservations shall be considered a refusal. Statements of acceptance and re-usal shall be irrevocable.

(2) In the case of a replacement election (Section 48 subsection (2)), subsection (1) shall apply accordingly provided that an elected candidate attains membership of the German Bundestag once the final result of the replacement election has been established.

(3) In the case of succession from the list (Section 48 subsection (1)) or a repeat elec-tion (Section 44), membership of the German Bundestag shall be attained once the Returning Officer in charge has received the letter of acceptance subsequent to notification within the prescribed period and form but not before the member elected as a result of the original election has vacated his or her seat. If an elected candidate refuses membership of the German Bundestag and the letter of acceptance of the successor from the list has been received before the opening of the first German Bundestag meeting after elections, the successor from the list shall obtain his or her seat once that meeting is opened. If the successor from the list or the candidate elected in a repeat election fails to make a statement or fails to make it in due form before the expiration of the legally pre-scribed period, the succession or election shall be considered accepted at the time of expiration. Subsection (1), third and forth sentences, shall apply accordingly.