1996 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

The 1996 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 24 March 1996 to elect the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Kurt Beck retained its majority and continued in office.

1996 Rhineland-Palatinate state election

24 March 1996
All 101 seats of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate 51 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,064,726 (70.8%) 3.1%
First party Second party   Leader Kurt Beck Johannes Gerster Party SPD CDU Last election 47 seats, 44.8% 40 seats, 38.7% Seats won 43 41 Seat change 4 1 Popular vote 821,539 798,166 Percentage 39.8% 38.7% Swing 5.0% 0.0%   Third party Fourth party   Party FDP Greens Last election 7 seats, 6.9% 7 seats, 6.5% Seats won 10 7 Seat change 3 0 Popular vote 184,426 142,665 Percentage 8.9% 6.9% Swing 2.0% 0.4%
Results for the single-member constituencies
Minister-President before election Kurt Beck SPD Elected Minister-President Kurt Beck SPD

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Name			Ideology	Leader(s)	1991 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands	Social democracy	Kurt Beck	44.8%	47 / 101
	CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	Christian democracy	Johannes Gerster	38.7%	40 / 101
	FDP	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	Classical liberalism	Hans-Artur Bauckhage	6.9%	7 / 101
	Grüne	Alliance 90/The Greens Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	Green politics		6.5%	7 / 101

Election result

Summary of the 24 March 1996 election results for the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats %
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	821,539	39.8	5.0	43	4	42.6
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	798,166	38.7	0.0	41	1	40.6
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	184,426	8.9	2.0	10	3	9.9
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	142,665	6.9	0.4	7	0	6.9
	The Republicans (REP)	71,499	3.5	1.4	0	±0	0
	Others	45,431	2.2		0	±0	0
Total		2,063,726	100.0		101	±0
Voter turnout			70.8	3.1

Popular Vote SPD   39.81% CDU   38.68% FDP   8.94% B'90/GRÜNE   6.91% REP   3.46% Other   2.20%

Landtag seats SPD   42.57% CDU   40.59% FDP   9.90% B'90/GRÜNE   6.93%