# 1996 Czech Senate election

Senate elections were held in the Czech Republic for the first time on 15 and 16 November 1996, with a second round on 22 and 23 November. the first after independence. The Civic Democratic Party emerged as the largest party, winning 32 of the 81 seats. Voter turnout was 35% in the first round and 31% in the second.
This was the only time Senate elections were held in all 81 single-member constituencies at the same time. Senators elected in 1996 were divided into three classes depending on number of their constituencies to determine which Senate seats would be up for election in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Senators in the Czech Republic are elected for six-year terms, with one-third being renewed every two years.
The elections were held using the two-round system, with an absolute majority required to be elected.

## Opinion polls

| Date | Polling firm | ODS | ČSSD | KSČM | KDU-ČSL | ODA | SPR-RSČ | Others/Undecided |
| August 1996 | IVVM | 15.7 | 10.4 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 65.9 |
| September 1996 | IVVM | 38.4 | 21.0 | 15.3 | 8.4 | 6.6 | 2.3 | 8.0 |
| October 1996 | IVVM | 34.6 | 25.7 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 8.6 | 1.1 | 6.6 |
| November 1996 | IVVM | 40.8 | 24.1 | 11.8 | 9.9 | 8.0 | 1.6 | 3.8 |

## Results

Total seats :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats |
| | Civic Democratic Party | 1,006,036 | 36.48 | 3 | 1,134,044 | 49.15 | 29 | 32 |
| | Czech Social Democratic Party | 559,304 | 20.28 | 0 | 733,713 | 31.80 | 25 | 25 |
| | Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia | 393,494 | 14.27 | 0 | 45,304 | 1.96 | 2 | 2 |
| | KDU-ČSL | 274,316 | 9.95 | 1 | 247,819 | 10.74 | 12 | 13 |
| | Civic Democratic Alliance | 222,319 | 8.06 | 0 | 119,730 | 5.19 | 7 | 7 |
| | Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party | 43,895 | 1.59 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Moravian–Silesian Coalition 96 | 26,643 | 0.97 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Democratic Union | 24,454 | 0.89 | 0 | 14,656 | 0.64 | 1 | 1 |
| | Green Party | 21,146 | 0.77 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Party for Life Security | 16,793 | 0.61 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Independents | 13,442 | 0.49 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Club of Committed Non-Party Members | 5,309 | 0.19 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Masaryk Democratic Party | 4,272 | 0.15 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Party of the Democratic Left | 4,241 | 0.15 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Right Bloc | 4,238 | 0.15 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Left | 3,164 | 0.11 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Independent Initiative | 2,565 | 0.09 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Right Alternative | 2,332 | 0.08 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Coexistence | 1,794 | 0.07 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia | 1,640 | 0.06 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Czech Right [cs] | 1,599 | 0.06 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Republican Union [cs] | 1,299 | 0.05 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | National Active Citizens | 1,221 | 0.04 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Republican Party of Agricultural and Smallholder People | 1,181 | 0.04 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Party of Entrepreneurs, Sole Traders and Peasants [cs] | 901 | 0.03 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Humanist Party | 715 | 0.03 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Republican Party | 695 | 0.03 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Prague Residents | 482 | 0.02 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Party of Small Business Owners | 431 | 0.02 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Democrats 92 | 288 | 0.01 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Roma Civic Initiative | 262 | 0.01 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Eastern European National Political Movement | 13 | 0.00 | 0 | | | | 0 |
| | Independents | 117,641 | 4.27 | 0 | 11,993 | 0.52 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 2,758,125 | 100.00 | 4 | 2,307,259 | 100.00 | 77 | 81 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 2,758,125 | 98.82 | | 2,307,259 | 99.30 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 32,960 | 1.18 | | 16,182 | 0.70 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 2,791,085 | 100.00 | | 2,323,441 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 7,992,740 | 34.92 | | 7,594,316 | 30.59 | | |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Czech Statistical Office |||||||||