# 1996 Czech parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 31 May and 1 June 1996, the first after independence. The Civic Democratic Party remained the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, winning 68 of the 200 seats. Voter turnout was 76%.

## Campaign

The campaign was primarily a conflict between the right-wing ODS and left-wing ČSSD. The ODS used slogans "Freedom and Prosperity" and "We proved that we can." ČSSD used slogan "Humanity against selfishness." ČSSD used an autobus called "Zemák" during its campaign. Party's leader Miloš Zeman campaigned with it at multiple places over the Czech Republic. ODS on the other hand used endorsements of public celebrities such as Lucie Bílá. Both parties used meetings with voters as their campaign instrument.

### Finances

| Party | Money spent (Kč) |
| Civic Democratic Party | 127,000,000 |
| Czech Social Democratic Party | 80,000,000 |
| Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party | 55,000,000 |
| Civic Democratic Alliance | 40,000,000 |
| Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia | 8,000,000 |
| Source: České Noviny ||

## Opinion polls

| Date | Polling firm | ODS | ČSSD | KSČM | KDU-ČSL | SPR-RSČ | ODA | DŽJ | DEU | SD-LSNS | LB | Others |
| 31 May–1 June | Election results | 29.6 | 26.4 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 6.4 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| May 1996 | STEM | 24.0 | 19.3 | 10.3 | 8.7 | 7.1 | 9.1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| 4–7 May 1996 | IVVM | 21.8 | 17.7 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 3.3 | |
| April | IVVM | 25.5 | 15.5 | 6.2 | 8.9 | 5.0 | 6.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 4.5 | |
| March | IVVM | 25.5 | 15.3 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 8.1 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 4.2 | |
| February | IVVM | 24.7 | 15.9 | 6.5 | 9.1 | 4.4 | 8.1 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 3.8 | |
| January | IVVM | 27.2 | 17.3 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 6.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 4.7 | |

## Results

| | Civic Democratic Party | 1,794,560 | 29.62 | 68 | – |
| | Czech Social Democratic Party | 1,602,250 | 26.44 | 61 | +45 |
| | Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia | 626,136 | 10.33 | 22 | –13 |
| | KDU-ČSL | 489,349 | 8.08 | 18 | +3 |
| | SPR-RSČ | 485,072 | 8.01 | 18 | +4 |
| | Civic Democratic Alliance | 385,369 | 6.36 | 13 | –1 |
| | Pensioners for Life Security | 187,455 | 3.09 | 0 | 0 |
| | Democratic Union | 169,796 | 2.80 | 0 | New |
| | Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party | 124,165 | 2.05 | 0 | New |
| | Left Bloc | 85,122 | 1.40 | 0 | New |
| | Independents | 30,125 | 0.50 | 0 | New |
| | Czech-Moravian Union of the Centre [cs] | 27,490 | 0.45 | 0 | New |
| | HSMSMNSJ [cs] | 25,198 | 0.42 | 0 | New |
| | Moravian National Party [cs] | 16,580 | 0.27 | 0 | New |
| | Party of the Democratic Left | 7,740 | 0.13 | 0 | New |
| | Czech Right [cs] | 2,808 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 6,059,215 | 100.00 | 200 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 6,059,215 | 99.39 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 37,189 | 0.61 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,096,404 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 7,990,770 | 76.29 | | |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver ||||||

### Vote share by district

* ODS
* ČSSD
* KSČM
* KDU-ČSL
* SPR-RSČ
* ODA