Free Voters

Political party in Germany

Free Voters

Freie Wähler

Abbreviation| FW
Chairman| Hubert Aiwanger
Deputy Chairpersons| Manfred Petry
Gabi Schmidt
Gregor Voht
Engin Eroglu
Denise Wendt
Federal Managing Director| Arnold Hansen
Federal Treasurer| Christa Hudyma
Founded| 1965; 59 years ago (1965) (as Bundesverband)
24 January 2009 (2009-01-24) (as a party)
Headquarters| Mühlenstraße 13, Ganderkesee, Germany
Youth wing| Young Free Voters
Membership (2020)| 6,225[1]
Ideology|

* Liberal conservatism[2][3]
* Soft Euroscepticism[4]

Political position| Centre-right
European affiliation| European Democratic Party
European Parliament group| Renew Europe
Colours|  Orange
Azure
State parliaments|

38 / 1,889

European Parliament|

2 / 96

Website
www.freiewaehler.eu

* Politics of Germany
* Political parties
* Elections

Free Voters (German: Freie Wähler, FW) is a centre-right[5] political party in Germany. The party 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.

## History[edit]

In the 2008 Bavaria state election, the FW association obtained 10.2% of the vote and gained their first 20 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria.[6] FW may have been helped by the presence in its list of Gabriele Pauli, a former member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU).[7][8] Others suggested that it was the other way round.[9] Unlike in the other German states, the Free Voters of Bavaria have also contested state elections since 1998.[citation needed] In the state election of 2013 FW repeated its success, gaining 19 seats.

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,[10] who sits with the ALDE Group.[11] The federal Free Voters association joined the European Democratic Party in October 2015.[12]

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.[13] Gericke left it 15 months afterward for Alliance C – Christians for Germany.

In the 2018 Bavarian state election, the Free Voters won a record 27 seats, entering into a coalition government as junior partner to the CSU.

Following the 2019 European Parliament election in Germany, the Free Voters sit in the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament with two MEPs.[14][15]

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.[16]

In the 2021 Rhineland-Palatinate state election, the FW entered the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate for the first time, amassing 5.4% of the vote and six seats.[17]

## Ideology, platform and policies[edit]

The Free Voters are a conservative party,[18] supporting devolving more power to the local level.[19] The party is in opposition to the European Union's financial policies.[20]

Ideologically, on the political spectrum, it has been described by some sources as being between the Free Democratic Party and the Party of Bible-abiding Christians,[20] and by others as between the Christian Social Union and the Alternative for Germany (AfD).[21] Europe Elects described it as centrist.[22] Politico has described the party as conservative and right-wing, noting the similarities between their rhetoric and the statements of the AfD.[23]

## Federal election results[edit]

Election  | Leader  | Constituency  | Party list  | Seats  | +/–  | Government

|
|
|
|
|
|

Votes  | %  | Votes  | %
2009 | Manfred Ehlert (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

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
2017 | 589,056  | 1.3 (#8)  | 463,292  | 1.0 (#8)  |

0 / 709

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
2021 | 1,334,093  | 2.9 (#8)  | 1,127,171  | 2.4 (#8)  |

0 / 735

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary

## State Parliaments (Länder)[edit]

In light orange are the regions where FW is represented in the state parliament, in dark orange are the regions where FW is in the state government. (2023)

The Free Voters do not contest state elections in Brandenburg due to the close cooperation with the BVB/Free Voters, who only compete in the state elections in Brandenburg.

State parliament  | Election  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/–  | Government

|
|
|
|
|
|

Baden-Württemberg | 2021 | 146,259  | 3.0 (#6)  |

0 / 154

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Bavaria | 2023 | 2,163,353  | 15.8 (#2)  |

37 / 205

|  10  | CSU–FW
Berlin | 2023 | 3,923  | 0.26 (#16)  |

0 / 160

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Bremen | 2019 | 14,205  | 1.0 (#9)  |

0 / 84

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Hamburg | 2020 | 16,357  | 0.4 (#?)  |

0 / 123

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Hesse | 2018 | 85,465  | 3.0 (#6)  |

0 / 137

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Lower Saxony | 2022 | 30,453  | 0.8 (#10)  |

0 / 137

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 2021 | 10,075  | 1.1 (#9)  |

0 / 71

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
North Rhine-Westphalia | 2022 | 49,985  | 0.7 (#10)  |

0 / 199

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Rhineland-Palatinate | 2021 | 103,619  | 5.4 (#6)  |

6 / 101

|  6  | Opposition
Saarland | 2022 | 7,636  | 1.7 (#9)  |

0 / 51

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Saxony | 2019 | 72,897  | 3.4 (#7)  |

0 / 119

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Saxony-Anhalt | 2021 | 33,288  | 3.1 (#7)  |

0 / 97

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Schleswig-Holstein | 2022 | 8,190  | 0.6 (#11)  |

0 / 73

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
Thuringia | 2019 | n/a  | \-  |

0 / 90

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary

## References[edit]

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. ^ 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'."
3. ^ "Free Voters — What you need to know". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
4. ^ Skiadas, Christos H.; Bozeman, James R. (7 March 2019). "14: Visualizing the Political Spectrum of Germany by Contiguously Ordering the Party Policy Profiles". John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781119579533. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
5. ^ Eric Langenbacher (2022). The German Polity: Twelfth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 315\. ISBN 978-1-53-814661-3.
6. ^ "Ergebnisse Landtagswahl Bayern 2008". Archived from the original on 30 September 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
7. ^ s. "Freie Wähler - Sicher nicht Frau Pauli \- Bayern - sueddeutsche.de". Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
8. ^ "Landtagswahl in Bayern: Ist Gabriele Pauli schuld am Erdrutsch-Verlust der CSU". 28 September 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008.
9. ^ "Die den Stoiber stürzte, 19:05: WDR 5". Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
10. ^ "Übersicht". Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
11. ^ "Ulrike MÜLLER - VoteWatch Europe". Votewatch.eu. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
12. ^ "Presse-Detail - FREIE WÄHLER Bundesvereinigung". Freiewaehler.eu. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
13. ^ Online, FOCUS. "Schwerin: Gericke von der Familienpartei wechselt zu Freien Wählern". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 11 July 2017.
14. ^ "Home | Ulrike MÜLLER | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
15. ^ "Home | Engin EROGLU | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
16. ^ "CoR Members Page".
17. ^ Osterloh, Maren (15 March 2021). "Alle Wahlkreise, alle Ergebnisse, alle Sieger in Rheinland-Pfalz". Die Welt. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
18. ^ "Bavaria's Free Voters — What you need to know – DW – 10/15/2018". dw.com. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
19. ^ Judy Dempsey (28 September 2008). "As Bavaria goes, so too all of Germany?". The New York Times. "The Free Voters, who won 10 percent, want more power to be devolved to the local level. They may be sought as a coalition partner, though their positions on many issues are unclear."
20. ^ a b Andranik Tangian (2019). "14: Visualizing the Political Spectrum of Germany by Contiguously Ordering the Party Policy Profiles". In Christos H. Skiadas & James R. Bozeman (ed.). Data Analysis and Applications 2: Utilization of Results in Europe and Other Topics. Vol. 3\. Wiley. ISBN 9781119579533. "FREIE WAHLER (Free Voters) founded in 2009, a party of opposition the EU financial policy;"
21. ^ Laurenz Gehrke (27 August 2021). "The thorn in conservative Germany's side". Politico.
22. ^ EU Elections in Germany: which minor parties will make it?, Europe Elects, May 11, 2019.
23. ^ "The thorn in conservative Germany's side". POLITICO. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2023.

## External links[edit]

* Official website (in German)

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Political parties in Germany

Represented in the Bundestag
(There are 736 seats)|

* SPD (206)
* CDU (152)
* The Greens (118)
* FDP (92)
* AfD (80)
* CSU (45)
* The Left (28)
* BSW (10)
* SSW (1)

Represented in the European Parliament
(There are 96 seats for Germany)|

| Major parties|

* SPD (16)
* CDU (23)
* The Greens (21)
* FDP (5)
* AfD (9)
* CSU (6)
* The Left (5)
* Free Voters (2)

|

Minor parties|

* Die PARTEI (1)
* Centre Party (1)
* ÖDP (1)
* Family Party (1)
* Bündnis Deutschland (1)
* Pirate Party (1)
* Volt (1)

Represented in the 16 state parliaments|

| Major parties|

* SPD (16/16)
* CDU (15/16; not in Bavaria)
* The Greens (15/16)
* FDP (12/16)
* AfD (15/16)
* The Left (8/16)
* Free Voters (2/16)

|

Regional parties|

* CSU (85; only in Bavaria)
* BVB/Free Voters (5; only in Brandenburg)
* SSW (4; only in Schleswig-Holstein)
* BIW (10; only in Bremen)
* BfTh (2; only in Thuringia)

Minor parties (without representation
above the district level)|

* Alliance C
* Animal Protection Alliance
* Animal Protection Party
* APPD
* Basic Income Alliance
* Bavaria Party
* Bergpartei, die ÜberPartei
* BüSo
* Democracy in Motion
* dieBasis
* Feminist Party
* German Communist Party
* DSU
* LKR
* Marxist–Leninist Party
* NPD
* Party for Health Research
* The Humanists
* Party of Reason
* The Third Path
* The Republicans
* The Urbans
* Socialist Equality Party
* Statt Party
* V-Partei3

Notes:

* CDU: does not participate in the state election in Bavaria; instead, an associated party CSU is participating here.

* Greens: are currently not in the state parliament of the Saarland

* FDP: is currently not in state parliaments of Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, Saarland and Saxony.

* AfD: is currently not in the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein.

* The Left: is currently not in the state parliaments of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein.

* Free Voters: are currently only in the state parliaments of Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate.

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