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 | 35.79% | 40,203,948 | 54.40% |
| Gennady Zyuganov | Communist Party | 24,211,686 | 32.49% | 30,102,288 | 40.73% |
| Alexander Lebed | Congress of Russian Communities | 10,974,736 | 14.73% | — | — |
| Grigory Yavlinsky | Yabloko | 5,550,752 | 7.45% | — | — |
| Vladimir Zhirinovsky | Liberal Democratic Party | 4,311,479 | 5.79% | — | — |
| Svyatoslav Fyodorov | Party of Workers' Self-Government | 699,158 | 0.94% | — | — |
| Mikhail Gorbachev | Independent | 386,069 | 0.52% | — | — |
| Martin Shakkum | Socialist People's Party | 277,068 | 0.37% | — | — |
| Yury Vlasov | Independent | 151,282 | 0.20% | — | — |
| Vladimir Bryntsalov | Russian Socialist Party | 123,065 | 0.17% | — | — |
| Aman Tuleyev | Independent | 308 | 0.00% | — | — |