Grouping of electors is a group of citizens temporarily associated with the goal of presenting a candidature to a particular election. It is a format that a candidature can use to participate in a given election not having a political party.

Germany

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, a voters' association or voter group, is the most common from of electoral groupings on the municipal level. They are variously called ''Wählergruppe'', ''Wählergemeinschaft'', ''Wählervereinigung'' or ''Wählerinitiative''. Common universal names for them include ''Unabhängige Wählergemeinschaft'' (UWG), ''Unabhängige Wähler-Vereinigung'' (UWV) or ''Freie Wählergemeinschaft'' (FWG). Multiple

political parties in Germany The Federal Republic of Germany has a plural multi-party system. Historically, the largest by members and parliament seats are the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with its sister party, the Christian Socia ...

, such as Alliance 90/The Greens or the

Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...

, trace their origins back to multiple localized voter groups. For the elections to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, non-political party participants are called ''sonstige politische Vereinigung'' (other political associations), abbreviated as SPV; an example of this includes the Last Generation which participated in the 2024 European Parliament election as Shaking up Parliament – Voice of the Last Generation.

Spain

According to the Spanish electoral law, a (Spanish: ''agrupación de electores'') a candidature must present a minimum number of signatures relative to the electoral census. Given its temporary nature, if the promoters wanted to use the grouping for another election, the latter must be re-constituted. Unlike political parties, party federations or electoral coalitions, a grouping of electors cannot profit from public electoral funding from a preceding candidature.

Signatures

*Municipal elections As established in the Art. 192 of the electoral law, the required number of signatures depends on the size of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

: ** Under 5,000 inhabitants, the number of signatures must be no less than the 1% of voters as long as the number of signataries is over the double of electable councillors. ** Between 5,001 and 10,000 inhabitants, at least 100 signatures ** Between 10,001 and 50,000 inhabitants, at least 500 signatures ** Between 50,001 and 150,000 inhabitants, at least 1,500 signatures ** Between 150,001 and 300,000 inhabitants, at least 3,000 signatures ** Between 300,001 and 1,000,000 inhabitants, at least 5,000 signatures ** In larger areas, at least 8,000 signatures *General elections For a group of electors to compete in a given general election, they must present a minimum number of signatures, amounting to 1% of the electors in the electoral district (which correspond to each

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

and

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

and Melilla). *European elections For a group of electors to compete in a given election to the

, they must present a minimum of 15,000 signatures.

References

{{reflist Elections in Spain