As many as six candidates for Germany's far-right AfD have died in recent weeks ahead of local elections in the big western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Police have made clear there is no evidence of foul play in the deaths, but it means that new ballots will have to be printed and some postal voters will have to recast their ballots.
North Rhine-Westphalia has a population of 18 million and a reported 20,000 candidates will run for office in its 14 September local elections.
The number of deaths has nevertheless raised questions on social media. The state's interior ministry has pointed out that candidates from other parties, including the Greens and Social Democrats, have also died.
The AfD became Germany's second biggest party in February's federal elections, spreading from its eastern heartland to areas of the west too.
Initial reports centred on news that four of its candidates had died, and then the deaths of two reserve candidates also emerged, prompting a flurry of conspiracy theories on social media.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel made no effort to quash the speculation, reposting a claim by retired economist Stefan Homburg that the number of candidates' deaths was statistically almost impossible.
The AfD's number two figure in North Rhine-Westphalia, Kay Gottschalk, stated that while he had only partial information and that didn't back up these suspicions at the moment, they wanted the cases to be investigated without immediately resorting to conspiracy theories.
AfD strategists are hoping for gains in North Rhine-Westphalia's local elections, which are seen as the first test of voters since the new federal government came to power.
The party has found support among several leading US figures on the right who have accused the German government of trying to suppress the AfD through bureaucracy.
