| Election Name: | 1996 Rhineland-Palatinate state election |
| Country: | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1991 Rhineland-Palatinate state election |
| Previous Year: | 1991 |
| Next Election: | 2001 Rhineland-Palatinate state election |
| Next Year: | 2001 |
| Seats For Election: | All 101 seats of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Majority Seats: | 51 |
| Election Date: | 24 March 1996 |
| Turnout: | 2,064,726 (70.8%) 3.1% |
| Leader1: | Kurt Beck |
| Party1: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Last Election1: | 47 seats, 44.8% |
| Seats1: | 43 |
| Seat Change1: | 4 |
| Popular Vote1: | 821,539 |
| Percentage1: | 39.8% |
| Swing1: | 5.0% |
| Leader2: | Johannes Gerster |
| Party2: | Christian Democratic Union of Germany |
| Seats2: | 41 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 798,166 |
| Percentage2: | 38.7% |
| Swing2: | 0.0% |
| Party4: | Free Democratic Party (Germany) |
| Last Election4: | 7 seats, 6.9% |
| Seats4: | 10 |
| Seat Change4: | 3 |
| Popular Vote4: | 184,426 |
| Percentage4: | 8.9% |
| Swing4: | 2.0% |
| Party5: | Alliance 90/The Greens |
| Last Election5: | 7 seats, 6.5% |
| Seats5: | 7 |
| Seat Change5: | 0 |
| Popular Vote5: | 142,665 |
| Percentage5: | 6.9% |
| Swing5: | 0.4% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Minister-President | |
| Before Election: | Kurt Beck |
| Before Party: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| After Election: | Kurt Beck |
| After Party: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
The 1996 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 24 March 1996 to elect the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The incumbent coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Kurt Beck retained its majority and continued in office.
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate.
| Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 1991 result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||||
| bgcolor= | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany | Social democracy | Kurt Beck | 44.8% | |||
| bgcolor= | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | Christian democracy | Johannes Gerster | 38.7% | |||
| bgcolor= | FDP | Free Democratic Party | Classical liberalism | Hans-Artur Bauckhage | 6.9% | |||
| bgcolor= | Grüne | Alliance 90/The Greens | Green politics | 6.5% | ||||
|-|colspan=8| |-! colspan="2" | Party! Votes! %! +/-! Seats ! +/-! Seats %|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | Social Democratic Party (SPD)| align=right| 821,539| align=right| 39.8| align=right| 5.0| align=right| 43| align=right| 4| align=right| 42.6|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | Christian Democratic Union (CDU)| align=right| 798,166| align=right| 38.7| align=right| 0.0| align=right| 41| align=right| 1| align=right| 40.6|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | Free Democratic Party (FDP)| align=right| 184,426| align=right| 8.9| align=right| 2.0| align=right| 10| align=right| 3| align=right| 9.9|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)| align=right| 142,665| align=right| 6.9| align=right| 0.4| align=right| 7| align=right| 0| align=right| 6.9|-! colspan=8||-| bgcolor=| | align=left | The Republicans (REP)| align=right| 71,499| align=right| 3.5| align=right| 1.4| align=right| 0| align=right| ±0| align=right| 0|-| bgcolor=|| align=left | Others| align=right| 45,431| align=right| 2.2| align=right| | align=right| 0| align=right| ±0| align=right| 0|-! align=right colspan=2| Total! align=right| 2,063,726! align=right| 100.0! align=right| ! align=right| 101! align=right| ±0! align=right| |-! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout! align=right| ! align=right| 70.8! align=right| 3.1! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right| |}