Free Voters

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This article is about Free Voters Associations. For Free Voters Party, see Free Voters of Bavaria.

Free Voters
Freie Wähler
AbbreviationFW
ChairmanHubert Aiwanger
Deputy Chairpersons
Gabi Schmidt

Engin Eroglu
Federal Managing Director
Federal Treasurer
Founded1965; 56 years ago (1965) (as Bundesverband)
24 January 2009 (2009-01-24) (as a party)
HeadquartersMühlenstraße 13, Ganderkesee, Germany
Youth wingYoung Free Voters
Membership (2019)5,682[1]
IdeologyConservatism[2]
Regionalism
Political positionCentre-right
European affiliationEuropean Democratic Party
European Parliament groupRenew Europe
Colours  Azure
  Orange
  Teal
State parliaments
38 / 1,889
European Parliament
2 / 96
Website
www.freiewaehler.eu

Free Voters (German: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association (eV). In most cases, Free Voters campaign only at the local-government level, standing for city councils and for mayoralties. Free Voters tend to achieve their most successful electoral results in rural areas of southern Germany, appealing most to conservative voters who prefer local decisions to party politics. Free Voter groups are active in all German states.

Unlike in the other German states, the Free Voters of Bavaria have also contested state elections since 1998. In the Bavaria state election of 2008 FW obtained 10.2% of the vote and gained their first 20 seats in the Landtag.[3] FW may have been helped by the presence in its list of Gabriele Pauli, a former member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria.[4][5] Others suggested that the cause and effect might be the other way about.[6] In the state election of 2013 FW repeated its success, gaining 19 seats. Then, in the 2018 Landtag elections, the Free Voters won a record 27 seats. In the 2021 Rhineland-Palatinate state election, the FW entered the Landtag there for the first time, amassing 5.4% of the vote and six seats.[7]

European representation[]

In the 2014 European parliament elections in Germany, the Free Voters list received 1.46% of the national vote and returned a single MEP, Ulrike Müller,[8] who sits with the ALDE Group.[9] The federal Free Voters association joined the European Democratic Party in October 2015.[10]

In June 2017 Arne Gericke, who sits with European Parliament's European Conservatives and Reformists group and was elected in 2014 on the Family Party of Germany list, joined the federal association.[11] He left it 15 months afterward.

Currently, in the European Parliament the Free Voters sit in the Renew Europe group with two MEPs.[12][13]

In the European Committee of the Regions the Free Voters sit in the Renew Europe CoR group with one alternate member for the 2020–2025 mandate.[14]

Federal elections results[]

Election Leader Constituency Party list Seats +/– Government
Votes % Votes %
2009 (FWD) 11,243 0.0 (#22)
0 / 622
 Extra-parliamentary
2013 Hubert Aiwanger 431,640 1.0 (#10) 423,977 1.0 (#10)
0 / 631
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2017 589,056 1.3 (#8) 463,292 1.0 (#8)
0 / 709
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2021 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

State Parliaments (Lander)[]

State parliament Election Votes % Seats +/– Government
Baden-Württemberg 2021 146,259 3.0 (#6)
0 / 154
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Bavaria 2018 1,572,792 11.6 (#3)
27 / 205
 Increase 8 CSU-FW
Berlin 2016 n/a -
0 / 160
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Brandenburg 2019 63,851 5.0 (#6)
5 / 88
 Increase 2 Opposition
Bremen 2019 14,205 1.0 (#9)
0 / 84
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Hamburg 2020 16,357 0.4 (#?)
0 / 123
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Hesse 2018 85,465 3.0 (#6)
0 / 137
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Lower Saxony 2017 11,348 0.3 (#9)
0 / 137
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 2016 4,775 0.6 (#12)
0 / 71
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
North Rhine-Westphalia 2017 33,083 0.4 (#9)
0 / 199
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Rhineland-Palatinate 2021 103,619 5.4 (#6)
6 / 101
 Increase 6 Opposition
Saarland 2017 2,146 0.4 (#?)
0 / 51
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Saxony 2019 98,353 4.6 (#7)
0 / 119
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Saxony-Anhalt 2021 33,288 3.1 (#7)
0 / 97
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Schleswig-Holstein 2017 7,816 0.5 (#?)
0 / 73
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Thuringia 2019 n/a -
0 / 90
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary

References[]

  1. ^ "Rechenschaftsbericht, Stand 31.12.2019" (PDF). Deutscher Bundestag. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  2. ^ Peter, Laurence (9 April 2021). "Markus Söder: Star Trek fan who could boldly go and lead Germany". BBC News. Retrieved 17 April 2021. He had to share power with the small conservative Free Voters party.
  3. ^ "Ergebnisse Landtagswahl Bayern 2008". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 30 September 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ s. "Freie Wähler - ''Sicher nicht Frau Pauli'' - Bayern - sueddeutsche.de". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ Osterloh, Maren. "Alle Wahlkreise, alle Ergebnisse, alle Sieger in Rheinland-Pfalz". Die Welt. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "Ulrike MÜLLER - VoteWatch Europe". Votewatch.eu. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  10. ^ "Presse-Detail - FREIE WÄHLER Bundesvereinigung". Freiewaehler.eu. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  11. ^ Online, FOCUS. "Schwerin: Gericke von der Familienpartei wechselt zu Freien Wählern". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Home | Ulrike MÜLLER | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Home | Engin EROGLU | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  14. ^ "CoR Members Page".

External links[]


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