1996 Russian Presidential Election
The oligarchs' election16 June and 3 July 1996 · The Yeltsin elections · two-round vote
Presidential elections were held in Russia on 16 June 1996, with a second round being held on 3 July 1996. It resulted in a victory for the incumbent Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who ran as an independent politician.
Genuinely contested, but heavily tilted: near-total state and oligarch media backing for Yeltsin, and enduring allegations of fraud in both rounds.
President before
Boris Yeltsin
Independent
President (re-elected)
Boris Yeltsin
Independent
Winning share
54.4%
second round
Turnout
69.7%
second round 68.8%
The result
Boris Yeltsin
Independent · 26,665,495 votes
54.40%
second round
Gennady Zyuganov
Communist Party · 24,211,686 votes
40.73%
second round
Alexander Lebed
Congress of Russian Communities · 10,974,736 votes
14.73%
first round
Grigory Yavlinsky
Yabloko · 5,550,752 votes
7.45%
first round
Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Liberal Democratic Party · 4,311,479 votes
5.79%
first round
Svyatoslav Fyodorov
Party of Workers' Self-Government · 699,158 votes
0.94%
first round
Mikhail Gorbachev
Independent · 386,069 votes
0.52%
first round
Martin Shakkum
Socialist People's Party · 277,068 votes
0.37%
first round
Yury Vlasov
Independent · 151,282 votes
0.20%
first round
Vladimir Bryntsalov
Russian Socialist Party · 123,065 votes
0.17%
first round
Aman Tuleyev
Independent · 308 votes
0.00%
first round