Clifford Chance (CC) is set to repeat the first round of its senior partner elections due to a glitch in the firm's partnership deed.

The unexpected voting re-run has arisen because the magic circle firm's partnership deed does not state that the contender receiving the least amount of votes in the first round is obliged to withdraw from the race.

All three partners in the running – London finance partner Malcolm Sweeting, German corporate finance partner Daniela Weber-Rey and City tax partner Jonathan Elman – were all asked to reconsider their position after last week's stalemate, but none chose to stand down.

The firm is now set to repeat the first round of voting with all three candidates still in the running, after which it is expected that at least one candidate will be eliminated.

The first round of voting closed last week (25 October) with none of the trio securing the 50% of votes required to replace outgoing senior partner Stuart Popham.

CC partners have not been given a breakdown of the voting results from last week, and some have questioned the current system, with one partner saying: "[The system] is modelled on an assumption that there are originally more than three candidates, or on the logic that whoever came third would step down.

"However there is nothing in the partnership document that suggests they have to."

CC declined to comment on the election process.