Free Voters
Some candidates of what would become the AfD sought election in Lower Saxony as part of the "Electoral Alternative 2013" in alliance with the Free Voters, an association participating in local elections without specific federal or foreign policies, and received 1% of the vote. In February 2013 the group decided to found a new party to compete in the 2013 federal elections. The Free Voters leadership declined to join forces, according to a leaked email from Bernd Lucke. Advocating the abolition of the euro, Alternative for Germany (AfD) took a more radical stance than the Free Voters. Likewise, the Pirate Party of Germany opposed any coalition with the AfD at their 2013 spring convention.