| Free Voters | |
| Native Name: | Freie Wähler |
| Abbreviation: | FW |
| Chairman: | Hubert Aiwanger |
| Leader1 Title: | Deputy Chairpersons |
| Leader1 Name: | Manfred Petry Gabi Schmidt Gregor Voht Engin Eroglu Denise Wendt |
| Leader2 Title: | Federal Managing Director |
| Leader2 Name: | Arnold Hansen |
| Leader3 Title: | Federal Treasurer |
| Leader3 Name: | Christa Hudyma |
| Foundation: | (as Bundesverband) (as a party) |
| Headquarters: | Mühlenstraße 13, Ganderkesee, Germany |
| Youth Wing: | Young Free Voters |
| Membership Year: | 2020 |
| Membership: | 6,225[1] |
| Position: | Centre-right[2] |
| Seats1 Title: | State parliaments |
| Seats3 Title: | European Parliament |
| Colours: | Orange Azure |
| European: | European Democratic Party |
| Europarl: | Renew Europe |
| Country: | Germany |
Free Voters (German: Freie Wähler, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (German: 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.
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.[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 (CSU).[4] [5] Others suggested that it was the other way round.[6] Unlike in the other German states, the Free Voters of Bavaria have also contested state elections since 1998. 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,[7] who sits with the ALDE Group.[8] The federal Free Voters association joined the European Democratic Party in October 2015.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11] [12]
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.[13]
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.[14]
In the 2024 European Parliament election in Germany, the FW won three seats; Christine Singer, Joachim Streit and Engin Eroglu.
The Free Voters are a conservative party,[15] supporting devolving more power to the local level.[16] The party is in opposition to the European Union's financial policies.[17]
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,[17] and by others as between the Christian Social Union and the Alternative for Germany (AfD).[18] Europe Elects described it as centrist.[19] Politico has described the party as conservative and right-wing, noting the similarities between their rhetoric and the statements of the AfD (such as opposition to mandatory vaccination and other Covid issues)[20]
| Election | Leader | Constituency | Party list | Seats | +/– | Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
| 2009 | Manfred Ehlert (FWD) | 11,243 | 0.0 (#22) | |||||
| 2013 | Hubert Aiwanger | 431,640 | 1.0 (#10) | 423,977 | 1.0 (#10) | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 589,056 | 1.3 (#8) | 463,292 | 1.0 (#8) | 0 | |||
| 2021 | 1,334,093 | 2.9 (#8) | 1,127,171 | 2.4 (#8) | 0 | |||
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 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Bavaria | 2023 | 2,163,353 | 15.8 (#2) | 10 | ||||
| Berlin | 2023 | 3,923 | 0.26 (#16) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Bremen | 2019 | 14,205 | 1.0 (#9) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Hamburg | 2020 | 16,357 | 0.4 (#?) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Hesse | 2018 | 85,465 | 3.0 (#6) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Lower Saxony | 2022 | 30,453 | 0.8 (#10) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 2021 | 10,075 | 1.1 (#9) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 2022 | 49,985 | 0.7 (#10) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 2021 | 103,619 | 5.4 (#6) | 6 | ||||
| Saarland | 2022 | 7,636 | 1.7 (#9) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Saxony | 2019 | 72,897 | 3.4 (#7) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Saxony-Anhalt | 2021 | 33,288 | 3.1 (#7) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Schleswig-Holstein | 2022 | 8,190 | 0.6 (#11) | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Thuringia | 2019 | n/a | - | 0 | align=center style="background:#ddd;" | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 442,579 | 1.68 (#7) | |||
| 2014 | 428,800 | 1.46 (#8) | 1 | ||
| 2019 | 806,703 | 2.16 (#9) | 1 | ||
| 2024 | 1,062,132 | 2.67 (#9) | 1 |