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.
In Germany, 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). [1] [2] [3] Multiple political parties in Germany, such as Alliance 90/The Greens or the Free Voters, trace their origins back to multiple localized voter groups.
For the elections to the European Parliament, non-political party participants are called sonstige politische Vereinigung (other political associations), abbreviated as SPV; [4] 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. [5]
In Italy, local political groupings without party affiliation are known as civic lists (Lista civica). [6] [7]
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. [8] [9] Given its temporary nature, if the promoters wanted to use the grouping for another election, the latter must be re-constituted. [9] Unlike political parties, party federations or electoral coalitions, a grouping of electors cannot profit from public electoral funding from a preceding candidature. [9]
As established in the Art. 192 of the electoral law, [10] the required number of signatures depends on the size of the municipality:
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 and Ceuta and Melilla). [10]
For a group of electors to compete in a given election to the European Parliament, they must present a minimum of 15,000 signatures. [10]