Presidential elections were held in Benin in March 1996. The first round, held on 3 March, saw no candidate gain over 50% of the vote, resulting in a second round held on 18 March. Mathieu Kérékou, a former military dictator who had come second in the first round, was victorious in the second round, beating incumbent Nicéphore Soglo, after gaining the backing of the third- and fourth-placed candidates.[1] Kérékou received very strong support from northern voters,[2] but he also improved his performance in the south compared to the 1991 election.[1]
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Soglo alleged fraud, but this was rejected by the Constitutional Court (who had annulled 22% of the votes in the first round),[3] which confirmed Kérékou's victory.[4] Voter turnout was 88% in the first round and 78% in the second round.[3]
Results
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Nicéphore Soglo | Benin Rebirth Party | 596,371 | 35.69 | 904,626 | 47.51 | |
| Mathieu Kérékou | Independent | 567,084 | 33.94 | 999,453 | 52.49 | |
| Adrien Houngbédji | Democratic Renewal Party | 329,364 | 19.71 | |||
| Bruno Amoussou | Social Democratic Party | 129,731 | 7.76 | |||
| Pascal Fantodji | Communist Party of Benin | 17,977 | 1.08 | |||
| Lionel Agbo | Independent | 15,418 | 0.92 | |||
| Léandre Djagoué | Independent | 15,079 | 0.90 | |||
| Total | 1,671,024 | 100.00 | 1,904,079 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 1,671,024 | 75.55 | 1,904,079 | 97.20 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 540,653 | 24.45 | 54,776 | 2.80 | ||
| Total votes | 2,211,677 | 100.00 | 1,958,855 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,517,970 | 87.84 | 2,524,262 | 77.60 | ||
| Source: Nohlen et al. | ||||||
References
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