Voters in Germany’s southern state of Bavaria will go to the polls on September 15, officials said Friday, meaning the ballot will be one week before the expected date for general elections.

Coalition partners in the southern region’s government agreed the date because they wanted their ballot to be held independently from the national vote, two leading state deputies said.

The exact date for federal elections, which will see Chancellor Angela Merkel fight for a third four-year term, is still uncertain but coalition lawmakers are expected to discuss it next week.

At the end of November, a government source told AFP that the majority of the country’s 16 states had agreed on September 22 for the federal vote.

The opposition Social Democrats want the elections at federal level as well as in Bavaria and another regional vote in western Hesse state to all take place on the same day.