| Election Name: | 1996 Schleswig-Holstein state election |
| Country: | Schleswig-Holstein |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1992 Schleswig-Holstein state election |
| Previous Year: | 1992 |
| Next Election: | 2000 Schleswig-Holstein state election |
| Next Year: | 2000 |
| Seats For Election: | All 75 seats in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein |
| Majority Seats: | 38 |
| Election Date: | 24 March 1996 |
| Turnout: | 1,502,088 (71.8%) 0.1% |
| Leader1: | Heide Simonis |
| Party1: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Last Election1: | 45 seats, 46.2% |
| Seats1: | 33 |
| Seat Change1: | 12 |
| Popular Vote1: | 597,751 |
| Percentage1: | 39.8% |
| Swing1: | 6.4% |
| Leader2: | Ottfried Hennig |
| Party2: | Christian Democratic Union of Germany |
| Last Election2: | 32 seats, 33.8% |
| Seats2: | 30 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 559,107 |
| Percentage2: | 37.2% |
| Swing2: | 3.4% |
| Party3: | Alliance 90/The Greens |
| Seats3: | 6 |
| Seat Change3: | 6 |
| Popular Vote3: | 121,939 |
| Percentage3: | 8.1% |
| Swing3: | 3.1% |
| Party4: | Free Democratic Party (Germany) |
| Last Election4: | 5 seats, 5.6% |
| Seats4: | 4 |
| Seat Change4: | 1 |
| Popular Vote4: | 86,227 |
| Percentage4: | 5.7% |
| Swing4: | 0.1% |
| Party5: | German People's Union |
| Last Election5: | 6 seats, 6.3% |
| Seats5: | 0 |
| Seat Change5: | 6 |
| Popular Vote5: | 64,335 |
| Percentage5: | 4.3% |
| Swing5: | 2.0% |
| Party6: | South Schleswig Voter Federation |
| Last Election6: | 1 seat, 1.9% |
| Seats6: | 2 |
| Seat Change6: | 1 |
| Popular Vote6: | 38,285 |
| Percentage6: | 2.5% |
| Swing6: | 0.6% |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| Minister-President | |
| Before Election: | Heide Simonis |
| Before Party: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| After Election: | Heide Simonis |
| After Party: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
The 1996 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 24 March 1996 to elect the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) government led by Minister-President Heide Simonis lost its majority. The SPD subsequently formed a coalition with The Greens, and Simonis continued in office.
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein.
| Name | Ideology | Leader(s) | 1992 result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||||
| bgcolor= | SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany | Social democracy | Heide Simonis | 46.2% | |||
| bgcolor= | CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | Christian democracy | Ottfried Hennig | 33.8% | |||
| bgcolor= | DVU | German People's Union | German nationalism | 6.3% | ||||
| bgcolor= | FDP | Free Democratic Party | Classical liberalism | 5.6% | ||||
| bgcolor= | SSW | South Schleswig Voters' Association | Danish and Frisian minority interests | 1.9% | ||||
|-| colspan=8| |-! colspan="2" | Party! Votes! %! +/-! Seats ! +/-! Seats %|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | Social Democratic Party (SPD)| align=right| 597,751| align=right| 39.8| align=right| 6.4| align=right| 33| align=right| 12| align=right| 44.0|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | Christian Democratic Union (CDU)| align=right| 559,107| align=right| 37.2| align=right| 3.4| align=right| 30| align=right| 2| align=right| 40.0|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)| align=right| 121,939| align=right| 8.1| align=right| 3.1| align=right| 6| align=right| 6| align=right| 8.0|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | Free Democratic Party (FDP)| align=right| 86,227| align=right| 5.7| align=right| 0.1| align=right| 4| align=right| 1| align=right| 5.3|-| bgcolor=| | align=left | South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW)| align=right| 38,285| align=right| 2.5| align=right| 0.6| align=right| 2| align=right| 1| align=right| 2.7|-! colspan=8||-| bgcolor=| | align=left | German People's Union (DVU)| align=right| 64,335| align=right| 4.3| align=right| 2.0| align=right| 0| align=right| 6| align=right| 0|-| | align=left | Voters' Community of Schleswig-Holstein (WSH)| align=right| 28,206| align=right| 1.9| align=right| 1.9| align=right| 0| align=right| ±0| align=right| 0|-| bgcolor=|| align=left | Others| align=right| 6,238| align=right| 0.4| align=right| | align=right| 0| align=right| ±0| align=right| 0|-! align=right colspan=2| Total! align=right| 1,502,088! align=right| 100.0! align=right| ! align=right| 75! align=right| 14! align=right| |-! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout! align=right| ! align=right| 71.8! align=right| 0.1! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right| |}