Free Voters
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 (as Bundesverband) 24 January 2009 (as a party) |
| Headquarters | Mühlenstraße 13, Ganderkesee, Germany |
| Youth wing | Young Free Voters |
| Membership (2020) | 6,225 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre to centre-right |
| European affiliation | European Democratic Party |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| Colours | Orange Azure |
| Bundestag | 0 / 630 |
| European Parliament | 3 / 96 |
| State parliaments | 41 / 1,891 |
| Website | |
| freiewaehler.eu | |
^ A: The party has also been labelled as liberal conservative and ultra-conservative. | |
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, except for Brandenburg, where the Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters is an equivalent party distinct from the Free Voters in cooperation with the Free Voters.