# 1996 Nicaraguan general election

General elections were held in Nicaragua on 20 October 1996 to elect the President and the members of the National Assembly. Arnoldo Alemán of the Liberal Alliance (a coalition of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party, Independent Liberal Party for National Unity, Nationalist Liberal Party and Neoliberal Party) was elected President, with the Liberal Alliance also winning 42 of the 93 seats in the National Assembly.

## Results
### President

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Arnoldo Alemán | Liberal Alliance | 896,207 | 50.99 |
| | Daniel Ortega | Sandinista National Liberation Front | 664,909 | 37.83 |
| | Guillermo Antonio Osorno Molina | Nicaraguan Party of the Christian Path | 71,908 | 4.09 |
| | Noel José Vidaurre Argüello | Conservative Party | 39,983 | 2.27 |
| | Benjamin Ramón Lanzas Selva | National Project | 9,265 | 0.53 |
| | Sergio Ramírez | Sandinista Renovation Movement | 7,665 | 0.44 |
| | Francisco José Mayorga Balladares | Bread and Strength Alliance (PAN–ASR) | 7,102 | 0.40 |
| | Francisco José Duarte Tapia | National Conservative Action | 6,178 | 0.35 |
| | Edgar Enrique Quiñónes Tuckler | Nicaraguan Resistance Party | 5,813 | 0.33 |
| | Andrés Abelino Robles Pérez | Nicaraguan Workers, Peasants and Professionals Unity Party | 5,789 | 0.33 |
| | Virgilio Godoy | Independent Liberal Party | 5,692 | 0.32 |
| | Jorge Alberto Díaz Cruz | National Justice Party | 5,582 | 0.32 |
| | Alejandro Serrano Caldera | Unity Alliance | 4,873 | 0.28 |
| | Elí Altamirano | Communist Party of Nicaragua | 4,802 | 0.27 |
| | Miriam Auxiliadora Argüello Morales | Popular Conservative Alliance | 4,632 | 0.26 |
| | Ausberto Narváez Argüello | Liberal Unity Party | 3,887 | 0.22 |
| | Alfredo César Aguirre | UNO–96 Alliance (PND–MAC–MDN) | 3,664 | 0.21 |
| | Allan Antonio Tefel Alba | National Renovation Movement | 2,641 | 0.15 |
| | James Odnith Webster Pitts | Democratic Action Party | 1,895 | 0.11 |
| | Sergio Abilio Mendieta Castillo | Central American Integrationist Party | 1,653 | 0.09 |
| | Moisés Hassán | Renovating Action Movement | 1,393 | 0.08 |
| | Gustavo Ernesto Tablada Zelaya | Nicaraguan Socialist Party | 1,352 | 0.08 |
| | Roberto Urcuyo Muñoz | Nicaraguan Democratic Party | 890 | 0.05 |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,757,775 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,757,775 | 95.05 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 91,587 | 4.95 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,849,362 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,421,067 | 76.39 |
| Source: Nohlen |||||

### National Assembly

| Party | Party | National | National | National | Departmental | Departmental | Departmental | Total seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats |
| | Liberal Alliance | 789,533 | 45.97 | 9 | 781,068 | 45.25 | 33 | 42 |
| | Sandinista National Liberation Front | 629,178 | 36.64 | 8 | 629,939 | 36.49 | 27 | 36 |
| | Nicaraguan Party of the Christian Path | 63,867 | 3.72 | 1 | 63,986 | 3.71 | 2 | 4 |
| | National Project | 40,656 | 2.37 | 1 | 36,417 | 2.11 | 1 | 2 |
| | Conservative Party | 36,543 | 2.13 | 1 | 39,153 | 2.27 | 1 | 3 |
| | Sandinista Renovation Movement | 22,789 | 1.33 | 0 | 23,554 | 1.36 | 1 | 1 |
| | Nicaraguan Resistance Party | 21,068 | 1.23 | 0 | 27,970 | 1.62 | 1 | 1 |
| | Unity Alliance | 14,001 | 0.82 | 0 | 13,848 | 0.80 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independent Liberal Party | 12,459 | 0.73 | 0 | 13,697 | 0.79 | 1 | 1 |
| | UNO–96 Alliance (PND–MAC–MDN) | 10,706 | 0.62 | 0 | 12,720 | 0.74 | 1 | 1 |
| | National Conservative Action | 9,811 | 0.57 | 0 | 13,011 | 0.75 | 0 | 0 |
| | National Action Party | 9,724 | 0.57 | 0 | 12,016 | 0.70 | 0 | 0 |
| | National Justice Party | 8,155 | 0.47 | 0 | 8,527 | 0.49 | 0 | 0 |
| | Liberal Unity Party | 7,531 | 0.44 | 0 | 9,893 | 0.57 | 0 | 0 |
| | Popular Conservative Alliance | 6,726 | 0.39 | 0 | 6,335 | 0.37 | 1 | 1 |
| | Communist Party of Nicaragua | 6,360 | 0.37 | 0 | 6,970 | 0.40 | 0 | 0 |
| | Nicaraguan Workers, Peasants and Professionals Unity Party | 5,641 | 0.33 | 0 | 5,067 | 0.29 | 0 | 0 |
| | Democratic Action Party | 5,272 | 0.31 | 0 | 6,254 | 0.36 | 0 | 0 |
| | National Renovation Movement | 4,988 | 0.29 | 0 | 3,788 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 |
| | Nicaraguan Socialist Party | 2,980 | 0.17 | 0 | 3,228 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 |
| | Central American Integrationist Party | 2,834 | 0.17 | 0 | 2,406 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 |
| | Marxist–Leninist Popular Action Movement | 2,446 | 0.14 | 0 | 520 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 |
| | Renovating Action Movement | 2,418 | 0.14 | 0 | 2,992 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 |
| | Nicaraguan Democratic Alliance | 1,730 | 0.10 | 0 | 2,060 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 |
| | Social Democratic Party | | | | 724 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 1,717,416 | 100.00 | 20 | 1,726,143 | 100.00 | 70 | 93 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,717,416 | 93.81 | | 1,726,143 | 93.85 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 113,391 | 6.19 | | 113,169 | 6.15 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 1,830,807 | 100.00 | | 1,839,312 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,421,067 | 75.62 | | 2,421,067 | 75.97 | | |
| Source: Nohlen, Election Passport |||||||||
* ↑ Coalition of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party, Independent Liberal Party for National Unity, Nationalist Liberal Party and Neoliberal Party
* ↑ Coalition of the Social Christian Party, Social Democratic Party and Revolutionary Unity Movement
* ↑ Awarded an additional seat for the party's unsuccessful presidential candidate. Vice presidential candidate Juan Manuel Caldera took the seat.
* ↑ Awarded an additional seat for the party's unsuccessful presidential candidate.
* ↑ Awarded an additional seat for the party's unsuccessful presidential candidate.

#### By region

| Region | AL | FSLN | PCCN | Other |
| Boaco | 57.19% | 21.03% | 4.59% | 17.19% |
| Carazo | 40.02% | 39.39% | 4.08% | 16.51% |
| Chinandega | 36.20% | 45.72% | 3.28% | 14.79% |
| Chontales | 63.76% | 19.05% | 0.96% | 16.23% |
| Esteli | 40.66% | 45.78% | 2.65% | 10.91% |
| Granada | 48.00% | 32.92% | 2.82% | 16.26% |
| Jinotega | 53.40% | 28.24% | 4.74% | 13.62% |
| Leon | 35.79% | 46.06% | 5.10% | 13.05% |
| Madriz | 37.08% | 41.64% | 2.10% | 19.18% |
| Managua | 43.95% | 39.87% | 4.70% | 11.48% |
| Masaya | 43.48% | 34.98% | 4.00% | 17.53% |
| Matagalpa | 49.29% | 31.20% | 4.40% | 15.11% |
| Nueva Segovia | 36.44% | 42.80% | 1.62% | 19.14% |
| RAAN | 50.50% | 29.31% | 1.12% | 19.06% |
| RAAS | 57.06% | 28.81% | 1.29% | 12.85% |
| Rio San Juan | 47.22% | 31.15% | 3.25% | 18.38% |
| Rivas | 44.65% | 34.27% | 3.48% | 17.60% |
| Source: Constituency Level Elections Archive |||||