1996 Dominican Republic presidential election

Presidential elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 16 May 1996, with a second round on 30 June. Whilst José Francisco Peña Gómez won the most votes in the first round, he was defeated by Leonel Fernández in the second round, after the Social Christian Reformist Party, whose candidate had lost in the first round, declared their support for Fernández. Voter turnout was 78.63% in the first round and 76.80% in the second.

1996 Dominican Republic presidential election

16 May 1996 (first round) 30 June 1996 (second round)
Turnout	78.63% (first round) 9.28pp 76.80% (second round)
Nominee Leonel Fernández José Francisco Peña Gómez Party PLD PRD Popular vote 1,466,382 1,394,641 Percentage 51.25% 48.75%
Second round results by province
President before election Joaquín Balaguer PRSC Elected President Leonel Fernández PLD

First round results by province

Results

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	José Francisco Peña Gómez	Dominican Revolutionary Party	1,333,925	45.94	1,394,641	48.75
	Leonel Fernández	Dominican Liberation Party	1,130,523	38.93	1,466,382	51.25
	Jacinto Peynado Garrigosa	Social Christian Reformist Party	435,504	15.00
	José Rafael Abinader	Social Democratic Alliance	3,907	0.13
Total			2,903,859	100.00	2,861,023	100.00
Valid votes			2,903,859	98.47	2,861,023	99.33
Invalid/blank votes			45,120	1.53	19,402	0.67
Total votes			2,948,979	100.00	2,880,425	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			3,750,502	78.63	3,750,502	76.80
Source: Nohlen