Free Voters

Free Voters
Freie Wähler
AbbreviationFW
ChairmanHubert Aiwanger
Deputy ChairpersonsManfred Petry
Gabi Schmidt
Gregor Voht
Engin Eroglu
Denise Wendt
Federal Managing DirectorArnold Hansen
Federal TreasurerChrista Hudyma
Founded1965; 59 years ago (1965) (as Bundesverband)
24 January 2009 (2009-01-24) (as a party)
HeadquartersMühlenstraße 13, Ganderkesee, Germany
Youth wingYoung Free Voters
Membership (2020)6,225[1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right[6]
European affiliationEuropean Democratic Party
European Parliament groupRenew Europe
Colours  Orange
  Azure
State parliaments
44 / 1,889
European Parliament
3 / 96
Website
www.freiewaehler.eu

Free Voters (German: Freie Wähler, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (Freie Wählergemeinschaften), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These associations are usually locally-organised groups of voters in the form of a registered association (eV). In most cases, Free Voters campaign only at 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 of the states of Germany.

  1. ^ "Unterrichtung durch die Präsidentin des Deutschen Bundestages" (PDF). Deutscher Bundestag. 15 June 2022. p. 19. Am 31. Dezember des Rechnungsjahres waren 6.225 Personen Mitglieder der Partei. (On 31 December of the financial year, 6,225 people were members of the party.)
  2. ^ Lisa Peyer, Jörg Hebenstreit, Dr. Tim Niendorfer (15 August 2022). "FREIE WÄHLER" (in German). Retrieved 7 February 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Sylvia Kritzinger; Carolina Plescia; SKolja Raube; James Wilhelm; Jan Wouters, eds. (2020). Assessing the 2019 European Parliament Elections. Taylor & Francis. p. 263. ISBN 9781000057263. As in 2014, seven minor parties with vote shares below 5 per cent gained seats in the European Parliament, ranging from single-issue parties like the Animal Protection Party (one seat) or the Family Party (one seat) to the satirical 'Die Partei' (two seats) or the liberal-conservative 'Free Voters'.
  4. ^ "Free Voters — What you need to know". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  5. ^ [3][4]
  6. ^ Eric Langenbacher (2022). The German Polity: Twelfth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 315. ISBN 978-1-53-814661-3.