Beninese presidential election, 1996

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]

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 87.8% in the first round and 77.6% in the second round.^[3]

Results

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Nicéphore Soglo	Renaissance Party of Benin	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 Fontondji	Communist Party of Benin	17,977	1.08
Lionel Agbo	Independent	15,418	0.92
Léandre Djagoué	Independent	15,079	0.90
Invalid votes		540,653	–	54,776	–
Total		2,211,677	100	1,958,855	100
Registered voters/turnout		2,517,970	87.8	2,524,262	77.6
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

1. 'Kunle Amuwo, "The State and the Politics of Democratic Consolidation in Benin, 1990–1999", in Political Liberalization and Democratization in Africa (2003), ed. Ihonvbere and Mbaku.
2. "World News Briefs; Benin Presidential Vote Heads for a Runoff", The New York Times, March 6, 1996.
3. Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p95 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
4. Benin, Year in Review: 1996, Britannica.com.