Presidential election in Russia 1996
The 1996 presidential election in Russia was the second election by the Russian president since 1991. It was also the only two-round presidential election in Russia to date . The first ballot took place on June 16, the second on July 3, 1996.
This election was shaped primarily by the political struggle between the incumbent President Boris Yeltsin and the chairman of the Russian Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov . While the former had lost a lot of its popularity in the previous months, which was mainly due to the failure of economic reforms, several corruption scandals and the ongoing Chechnya war, Zyuganov was able to gain supporters, especially among the numerous losers of the Yeltsin reforms.
Results of the first ballot on June 16
| candidate | Number of votes | % of votes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boris Yeltsin | 26,665,495 | 35.28 | |
| Gennady Zyuganov | 24,211,686 | 32.03 | |
| Alexander Lebed | 10,974,736 | 14.52 | |
| Grigori Jawlinski | 5,550,752 | 7.34 | |
| Vladimir Zhirinovsky | 4,311,479 | 5.70 | |
| Svyatoslav Fyodorov | 699.158 | 0.92 | |
| Mikhail Gorbachev | 386.069 | 0.51 | |
| Martin Schakkum | 277.068 | 0.37 | |
| Yuri Vlasov | 151.282 | 0.20 | |
| Vladimir Bryntsalov | 123.065 | 0.16 | |
| Aman Tuleev | 308 | 0.00 | |
| "Against all" | 1,163,921 | 1.54 | |
| Invalid votes | 1,072,120 | 1.43 | |
| total | 75,587,139 | 100.00 | |
The turnout in the first ballot was 69.81%.
Second ballot
Since neither Yeltsin nor Zyuganov could achieve an absolute majority of the votes, the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation set the second ballot on July 3, 1996. As this was a Wednesday, the Russian government officially took the day off from work. Resigned candidates, who represented a decidedly anti-communist and anti-Soviet position, called on their voters to support Yeltsin in the second ballot. The former Lieutenant General Lebed, who had come third in the first ballot, played a decisive role . After Yeltsin appointed him secretary of the Security Council a few days after the first ballot , Lebed de facto sided with Yeltsin.
| candidate | Number of votes | % of votes |
|---|---|---|
| Boris Yeltsin | 40,402,349 | 53.82 |
| Gennady Zyuganov | 30.104.589 | 40.31 |
| "Against all" | 3,603,760 | 4.82 |
| Invalid votes | 780.405 | 1.05 |
| total | 74,706,645 | 100.00 |
The turnout in the second ballot was 68.88% of the voters. The incumbent Yeltsin won with 40,402,349 votes (53.82%), Zyuganov got 30,104,589 votes (40.31%), and 3,603,760 citizens voted “against both” (4.82%).
Electoral influence and rumors about election fraud
Boris Yeltsin's victory was so surprising on the basis of the polls that doubts about the legitimacy of the result have not yet been completely dispelled. Two days before the runoff election, the US election workers on Yeltsin's side were exposed by the Washington Post .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://de.rbth.com/politik/2016/06/20/jelzins-wahlsieg-1996-der-gestolen-triumph_604653
- ^ Propaganda: "A damned lie" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 29 , 1996 ( online ).
