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.[1] the first after independence. The result was a victory for the Civic Democratic Party, which won 32 of the 81 seats. Voter turnout was 34.9% in the first round and 30.6% in the second.[2]
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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[3] | 15.7 | 10.4 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 65.9 |
September 1996 | IVVM[3] | 38.4 | 21.0 | 15.3 | 8.4 | 6.6 | 2.3 | 8.0 |
October 1996 | IVVM[3] | 34.6 | 25.7 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 8.6 | 1.1 | 6.6 |
November 1996 | IVVM[3] | 40.8 | 24.1 | 11.8 | 9.9 | 8.0 | 1.6 | 3.8 |
Results
Party | First round | Second round | Total seats | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | 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 | |
Czech 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 | 1,599 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Republican Union | 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 | 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 | 2,758,125 | 100.00 | 4 | 2,307,259 | 100.00 | 77 | 81 | |
Valid votes | 2,758,125 | 98.82 | 2,307,259 | 99.30 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 32,960 | 1.18 | 16,182 | 0.70 | ||||
Total votes | 2,791,085 | 100.00 | 2,323,441 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 7,992,740 | 34.92 | 7,594,316 | 30.59 | ||||
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Czech Statistical Office |
References
- Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p471 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
- Nohlen & Stöver, p472
- "Nesstar WebView". nesstar.soc.cas.cz. Retrieved 4 January 2017.