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{{short description|53rd quadrennial U.S. presidential election}}
{{for|related races|1996 United States elections}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1996 United States presidential election
| country = United States
| type = presidential
| previous_election = 1992 United States presidential election
| previous_year = 1992
| election_date = November 5, 1996
| next_election = 2000 United States presidential election
| next_year = 2000
| votes_for_election = 538 members of the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]]
| needed_votes = 270 electoral
| turnout = 51.7%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present|title=National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present|work=United States Election Project|publisher=[[CQ Press]]}}</ref> {{decrease}} 6.4 [[percentage point|pp]]
| image_size = x160px

<!-- Steve Forbes -->
| image1 = Bill Clinton.jpg <!-- There is the image that was decided upon after an ongoing discussion on the talk page regarding the images to be used. Please do not change the images without future consensus. -->
| nominee1 = '''[[Steve Forbes]]'''
| party1 = Republican Party (United States)
| home_state1 = [[New Jersey]]
| running_mate1 = '''[[George Voinovich]]'''
| electoral_vote1 = '''349'''
| states_carried1 = '''35'''
| popular_vote1 = '''40,439,214'''
| percentage1 = '''{{percent|<!-- FORBES: --> 40,439,214|<!-- TOTAL: --> 95,827,521|1|pad=yes}}'''

<!-- Bill Bradley -->
| image2 = Ks 1996 dole (cropped).jpg <!-- There is the image that was decided upon after an ongoing discussion on the talk page regarding the images to be used. Please do not change the images without future consensus. -->
| nominee2 = [[Bill Bradley]]
| party2 = Democratic Party (United States)
| home_state2 = [[New Jersey]]
| running_mate2 = [[Al Gore]]
| electoral_vote2 = 189
| states_carried2 = 15 + [[Washington, D.C.|DC]]
| popular_vote2 = 34,643,285
| percentage2 = {{percent|<!-- BRADLEY: --> 34,643,285|<!-- TOTAL: --> 95,827,521|1|pad=yes}}

<!-- Ross Perot -->
| image3 = File:RossPerotColor.jpg <!-- There is the image that was decided upon after an ongoing discussion on the talk page regarding the images to be used. Please do not change the images without future consensus. -->
| nominee3 = [[Ross Perot]]
| party3 = Reform Party of the United States of America
| home_state3 = [[Texas]]
| running_mate3 = [[Pat Choate]]
| electoral_vote3 = 0
| states_carried3 = 0
| popular_vote3 = 20,679,515
| percentage3 = {{percent|<!-- PEROT: --> 20,679,515|<!-- TOTAL: --> 95,827,521|1|pad=yes}}

<!-- Map -->
| map_size = 350px
| map = {{1996 United States presidential election imagemap}}
| map_caption = Presidential election results map. <span style="color:blue;">Blue</span> denotes states won by Clinton/Gore and <span style="color:red;">red</span> denotes those won by Dole/Kemp. Numbers indicate [[electoral votes]] cast by each state and the District of Columbia.
| title = President
| before_election = [[Bill Clinton]]
| before_party = Democratic Party (United States)
| after_election = [[Bill Clinton]]
| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)
| ongoing = 
}}
The '''1996 United States presidential election''' was the 53rd quadrennial [[United States presidential election|presidential election]], held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/dates.php |title=Election Dates |publisher=Uselectionatlas.org |access-date=June 17, 2010}}</ref> [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate [[Steve Forbes]], [[editor-in-chief]] of ''[[Forbes]]'', defeated Senator [[Bill Bradley]], the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee, and [[Ross Perot]], the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]] nominee and 1992 presidential candidate.

Forbes and [[Governor of Ohio|Ohioan Governor]] [[George Voinovich]] were nominated after defeating challenges by [[Paleoconservatism|paleoconservative]] commentator [[Pat Buchanan]] and former Senate Majority Leader [[Bob Dole]]. Numerous candidates entered the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1996|1996 Republican primaries]], with Dole considered the early front-runner. Dole clinched the nomination after defeating challenges by publisher [[Steve Forbes]] and [[Paleoconservatism|paleoconservative]] leader [[Pat Buchanan]]. Dole's running mate was [[Jack Kemp]], a former Congressman and football player who had served as the [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|Housing Secretary]] under President [[George H. W. Bush]]. [[Ross Perot]], who had won 18.9% of the popular vote as an [[Independent politician|independent]] candidate in the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 election]], ran as the candidate of the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]]. Perot received less media attention in 1996 and was excluded from the [[United States presidential debates|presidential debates]].

Clinton's chances of winning were initially considered slim in the middle of his term, as his party had lost both the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[United States Senate|Senate]] in [[1994 United States elections|1994]] for the first time in decades. He was able to regain ground as the economy began to recover from the [[Early 1990s recession in the United States|early 1990s recession]] with a relatively stable world stage. Clinton tied Dole to [[Newt Gingrich]], the unpopular Republican Speaker of the House, and warned that Republicans would increase the [[National debt of the United States|deficit]] and slash spending on popular programs like [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] and [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]]. Dole promised an across-the-board 15% reduction in [[Income tax in the United States|federal income taxes]] and labeled Clinton as a member of the "spoiled" [[Baby Boomer]] generation. Dole's age was a persistent issue in the election, and gaffes by Dole exacerbated the issue for his campaign.

On election day, Clinton defeated Dole by a wide margin, winning 379 electors to Dole's 159 and taking 49.2% of the national popular vote to Dole's 40.7%. As in 1992, Perot's strong candidacy held both major party candidates below 50% nationwide. Notably, Clinton's strength with many southern and rural whites makes him the last Democrat as of 2020 to carry the states of [[Kentucky]], [[Louisiana]], [[West Virginia]], [[Arkansas]], [[Missouri]], and [[Tennessee]] in a presidential election.

==Background==
In 1995, the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] was riding high on the [[Republican Revolution|significant gains]] made in the [[1994 United States elections|1994 mid-term elections]]. In those races, the Republicans, led by [[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives#Whips|whip]] [[Newt Gingrich]], captured the majority of seats in the [[United States House of Representatives|House]] for the first time in forty years and the majority of seats in the [[United States Senate|Senate]] for the first time in eight years. Gingrich became [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]], while [[Bob Dole]] was elevated to [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Majority leader]].

The Republicans of the [[104th United States Congress|104th Congress]] pursued an ambitious agenda, highlighted by their [[Contract with America]], but were often forced to compromise with President Clinton, who wielded [[Veto power in the United States|veto power]]. A budget impasse between Congress and the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton Administration]] eventually resulted in [[1995–1996 United States federal government shutdowns|a government shutdown]]. Clinton, meanwhile, was praised for signing the GOP's [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|welfare reform]], and other notable bills, but was forced to abandon his own [[Clinton health care plan of 1993|health care plan]].

==Democratic Party nomination==
{{Bill Clinton series}}
{{Al Gore series}}
{{Main|Bill Clinton 1996 presidential campaign|1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1996 Democratic National Convention}}
Democratic Candidates
* [[Bill Clinton]], [[President of the United States]]
* [[Lyndon LaRouche]], Activist from [[Virginia]]
* [[James D. Griffin|Jimmy Griffin]], Former [[List of mayors of Buffalo, New York|Mayor of Buffalo]] from [[New York (state)|New York]]

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|[[File:Democratic Disc.svg|65px|center|link=Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party (United States)]]<big>'''1996 Democratic Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#33f; width:200px;"| [[Bill Clinton|{{color|white|Bill Clinton}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#33f; width:200px;"| [[Al Gore|{{color|white|Al Gore}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#c8ebff;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:Bill Clinton.jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Al Gore, Vice President of the United States, official portrait 1994.jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| [[List of presidents of the United States|42nd]] <br/>[[President of the United States]]<br/><small>(1993–2001)</small>
| [[List of vice presidents of the United States|45th]]<br/>[[Vice President of the United States]]<br/><small>(1993–2001)</small>
|-
| colspan=2 |[[Bill Clinton 1996 presidential campaign|'''Campaign''']]
|-
| colspan=2 |[[File:Clinton Gore 96.svg|center|200x200px]]
|}

===Candidates gallery===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Bill Clinton.jpg|{{center|'''President<br/>[[Bill Clinton]]'''<br/>from [[Arkansas]]}}
File:Lyndon LaRouche (cropped).jpg|{{center|Activist<br/>[[Lyndon LaRouche]]<br/>from [[Virginia]]}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: File:MayorJimmyGriffin.jpeg|{{center|Former [[List of mayors of Buffalo, New York|Mayor of Buffalo]]<br/>[[James D. Griffin|Jimmy Griffin]]<br/>from [[New York (state)|New York]]}} -->
</gallery>

With the advantage of incumbency, [[Bill Clinton]]'s path to renomination by the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] was uneventful. At the [[1996 Democratic National Convention]], Clinton and incumbent [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Al Gore]] were renominated with token opposition. Formerly incarcerated fringe candidate [[Lyndon LaRouche]] won a few Arkansas delegates who were barred from the convention. [[James D. Griffin|Jimmy Griffin]], former [[List of mayors of Buffalo, New York|Mayor of Buffalo, New York]], mounted a brief campaign but withdrew after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary.  Former [[Pennsylvania]] governor [[Robert P. Casey|Bob Casey]] contemplated a challenge to Clinton, but health problems forced Casey to abandon a bid.<ref>{{cite web|title=Anyone left? The search for a Clinton challenger in 1996.|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Anyone+left%3F+The+search+for+a+Clinton+challenger+in+1996.-a016914424|work=The Progressive|publisher=TheFreeLibrary.com|access-date=December 6, 2010|date=May 1, 1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Newton-Small|first=Jay|title=Can a Pro-Life Dem Bridge the Health-Care Divide?|url=http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1942614,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091127054042/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1942614,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 27, 2009|magazine=Time|access-date=December 6, 2010|date=November 24, 2009}}</ref>

Clinton easily won primaries nationwide, with margins consistently higher than 80%.

Popular primaries vote:<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=Guide to U.S. Elections |publisher=[[CQ Press]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60426-536-1 |editor-last=Kalb |editor-first=Deborah |location=Washington, DC |pages=460–461}}</ref>
* [[Bill Clinton]] (inc.)&nbsp;– 9,730,184 (88.5%)
* [[Lyndon LaRouche]]&nbsp;– 597,081 (5.4%)
* Unpledged&nbsp;– 423,265 (3.8%)
Convention tally:<ref>{{Cite book |title=Guide to U.S. Elections |publisher=[[CQ Press]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60426-536-1 |editor-last=Kalb |editor-first=Deborah |location=Washington, DC |pages=745}}</ref>

* Bill Clinton (inc.)&nbsp;– 4,277
* Not voting&nbsp;– 12

==Republican Party nomination==
{{Main|Bob Dole 1996 presidential campaign|1996 Republican Party presidential primaries|1996 Republican National Convention}}
Republican Candidates
* [[Bob Dole]], U.S. Senator from [[Kansas]] and Republican nominee for [[Vice President of the United States]] in [[1976 United States presidential election|1976]]
* [[Pat Buchanan]], conservative columnist from [[Virginia]]
* [[Steve Forbes]], newspaper and magazine publisher from [[New York (state)|New York]]
* [[Lamar Alexander]], former Governor of [[Tennessee]]
* [[Phil Gramm]], U.S. Senator from [[Texas]]
* [[Alan Keyes]], former U.S. [[United Nations Economic and Social Council|ECOSOC]] Ambassador from [[Maryland]]
* [[Richard Lugar]], U.S. Senator from [[Indiana]]
* [[Bob Dornan]], U.S. Representative from [[California]]
* [[Arlen Specter]], U.S. Senator from [[Pennsylvania]]
* [[Pete Wilson]], Governor of [[California]]
* [[Morry Taylor]], CEO from [[Michigan]]
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|[[File:Republican Disc.svg|65px|center|link=Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party (United States)]]<big>'''1996 Republican Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Bob Dole|{{color|white|Bob Dole}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Jack Kemp|{{color|white|Jack Kemp}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#ffd0d7;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:Robert J. Dole signed autograph (cropped 2).jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Jack Kemp official portrait.jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]]<br/> from [[Kansas]]<br /><small>(1969–1996)</small>
| 9th<br/>[[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]]<br /><small>(1989–1993)</small>
|-
| colspan=2 |[[Bob Dole 1996 presidential campaign|'''Campaign''']]
|-
| colspan=2 |[[File:Dole Kemp 1996 campaign logo.svg|center|230x149px]]
|}

===Candidates gallery===
<gallery perrow="5" mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Robert J. Dole signed autograph (cropped 2).jpg|{{center|[[United States Senate|Senator]]<br/>'''[[Bob Dole]]'''<br/>from [[Kansas]]}}
File:Patrickjbuchanan.JPG|{{center|[[Columnist|Conservative columnist]]<br/>'''[[Pat Buchanan]]'''<br/>from [[Virginia]]}}
File:Steve Forbes.jpg|{{center|Newspaper and magazine publisher<br/>'''[[Steve Forbes]]'''<br/>from [[New York (state)|New York]]}}
File:Lamar Alexander 2.jpg|{{center|Former [[Governor of Tennessee|Governor]]<br/>'''[[Lamar Alexander]]'''<br/>of [[Tennessee]]}}
File:Alan Keyes (1).jpg|{{center|Former U.S. [[United Nations Economic and Social Council|ECOSOC]] Ambassador<br/>'''[[Alan Keyes]]''', from [[Maryland]]}}
File:Dick Lugar official photo.jpg|{{center|Senator<br/>'''[[Richard Lugar]]'''<br/>from [[Indiana]]}}
File:PhilGramm (1).jpg|{{center|[[United States Senate|Senator]]<br/>'''[[Phil Gramm]]'''<br/>from [[Texas]]}}
File:RobertDornan.jpg|{{center|Representative<br/>'''[[Bob Dornan]]'''<br/>from [[California]]}}
File:Arlen Specter official portrait.jpg|{{center|Senator<br/>'''[[Arlen Specter]]'''<br/>from [[Pennsylvania]]}}
File:Pete Wilson meeting with Les Aspin, Feb 3, 1993 - cropped to Wilson.JPEG|{{center|[[Governor of California|Governor]]<br/>'''[[Pete Wilson]]'''<br/>of [[California]]}}
</gallery>

A number of Republican candidates entered the field to challenge the incumbent Democratic president, [[Bill Clinton]].

The fragmented field of candidates debated issues such as a [[flat tax]] and other tax cut proposals, and a return to [[supply-side economics|supply-side economic]] policies popularized by [[Ronald Reagan]]. More attention was drawn to the race by the budget stalemate in 1995 between Congress and the President, which caused temporary shutdowns and slowdowns in many areas of federal government service.

Former Secretary of Labor [[Lynn Morley Martin|Lynn Martin]] of Illinois, who served in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from [[Illinois]]'s [[16th]] District and was the 1990 Republican U.S. Senate nominee losing to incumbent [[Paul Simon (politician)|Paul Simon]] conducted a bid for most of 1995, but withdrew before the [[Iowa]] caucuses as polls showed her languishing far behind. She participated in a number of primary [[United States presidential election debates|Presidential debates]] before withdrawing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?63441-1/new-hampshire-republican-forum|title=New Hampshire Republican Forum|date=February 19, 1995|website=C-SPAN.org|access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref> Martin's predecessor in Congress, [[John B. Anderson|John Anderson]] had made first a Republican then Independent Presidential bid in 1980. Also, Simon who defeated Martin for the U.S. Senate had run for president as a Democrat in 1988.

Former [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] General [[Colin Powell]] was widely courted as a potential Republican nominee. However, on November 8, 1995, Powell announced that he would not seek the nomination. Former [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] and future [[Vice President of the United States]] [[Dick Cheney]] was touted by many as a possible candidate for the presidency, but he declared his intentions not to run in early 1995. Former and future [[United States Secretary of Defense|Defense Secretary]] [[Donald Rumsfeld]] formed a presidential campaign exploratory committee, but declined to formally enter the race. Former [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[James A. Baker III]] and former [[Secretary of Education]] [[William Bennett]] both flirted with bids, both even set up exploratory committees, for a number of months but both finally declared within days of each other they would not run either.<ref>{{cite web |author=Washington watch |url=http://www.aaiusa.org/w060694 |title=Republicans Prepare to Run in 1996 – Arab American Institute |publisher=Aaiusa.org |date=1994-06-06 |access-date=2018-04-04 |archive-date=October 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001074512/http://www.aaiusa.org/w060694 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Primaries and convention===
{{main|1996 Republican Party presidential primaries}}
Ahead of the 1996 primary contest, [[Republican Leader of the United States Senate]] and former vice-presidential candidate [[Bob Dole]] was seen as the most likely winner. However, [[Steve Forbes]] finished first in [[Delaware]] and [[Arizona]] while [[Paleoconservatism|paleoconservative]] firebrand [[Pat Buchanan]] managed early victories in [[Alaska]] and [[Louisiana]], in addition to a strong second place in the [[Iowa caucuses]] and a surprising victory in the small but key [[New Hampshire primary]].  Buchanan's New Hampshire win alarmed the Republican "establishment" sufficiently as to provoke prominent Republicans to quickly coalesce around Dole,<ref>Julie Hirschfeld Davis (January 26, 2012), [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/-stop-newt-republicans-confront-base-unwilling-to-take-orders.html "'Stop-Newt' Republicans Confront New Base"] ''[[Bloomberg Television|Bloomberg News]]''</ref> and Dole won every primary starting with [[North Dakota|North]] and [[South Dakota]]. Dole resigned his Senate seat on June 11 and the [[1996 Republican National Convention|Republican National Convention]] formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996, for president.

Popular primaries vote:<ref name=":1" />
* [[Bob Dole]]&nbsp;– 8,427,601 (59.2%)
* [[Pat Buchanan]]&nbsp;– 3,021,935 (21.2%)
* [[Steve Forbes]]&nbsp;– 1,425,998 (10.0%)
* [[Lamar Alexander]]&nbsp;– 495,590 (3.5%)
* [[Alan Keyes]]&nbsp;– 449,536 (3.2%)
* [[Richard Lugar]]&nbsp;– 127,111 (0.9%)
* Unpledged&nbsp;– 123,765 (0.9%)
* [[Phil Gramm]]&nbsp;– 71,457 (0.5%)
* [[Bob Dornan]]&nbsp;– 42,141 (0.3%)
* [[Morry Taylor]]&nbsp;– 21,180 (0.1%)

Convention tally:<ref>{{Cite book |title=Guide to U.S. Elections |publisher=[[CQ Press]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60426-536-1 |editor-last=Kalb |editor-first=Deborah |location=Washington, DC |pages=744}}</ref>
* [[Bob Dole|Bob Dole&nbsp;–]] 1928
* [[Pat Buchanan|Pat Buchanan&nbsp;–]] 43
* [[Phil Gramm|Phil Gramm&nbsp;–]] 2
* [[Alan Keyes|Alan Keyes&nbsp;–]] 1
* [[Robert Bork|Robert Bork&nbsp;–]] 1
* Not voting&nbsp;– 15

Former Representative and Housing Secretary [[Jack Kemp]] was nominated by acclamation for vice president, the following day. This was the only Republican ticket between 1980 and 2008 that did not include a member of the [[Bush family]].

==Reform Party nomination==
{{Main|1996 Reform Party presidential primaries|Ross Perot 1996 presidential campaign}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''1996 Reform Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8800AA; width:200px;"| [[Ross Perot|{{color|white|Ross Perot}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8800AA; width:200px;"| [[Pat Choate|{{color|white|Pat Choate}}]]
|- style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#C26AD8;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:Ross Perot in his office Allan Warren (cropped) (cropped).jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:ChoateTennessee.png|center|200x200px]]
|-
| President and CEO of [[Perot Systems]] <br /><small>(1988–2009)</small>
| Economist
|-
| colspan=2 |[[Ross Perot 1996 presidential campaign|'''Campaign''']]
|-
| colspan=2 |[[File:Perot Choate 1996 campaign logo.svg|center|223x166px]]
|}

[[File:BallotAccessofRossPerot1996.svg|thumb|right|Ross Perot was on the ballot in every state.]]

===Candidates gallery===
<gallery perrow="5" mode="packed" heights="160">
File:RossPerotColor.jpg|Party Founder '''[[Ross Perot]]''', from [[Texas]]
File:Richard Lamm.jpg|Former [[Governor of Colorado|Governor]] '''[[Richard Lamm]]''' of [[Colorado]]
</gallery>

The [[Reform Party of the United States of America|United States Reform Party]] had great difficulty in finding a candidate willing to run in the general election. [[Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.|Lowell Weicker]], [[Tim Penny]], [[David L. Boren|David Boren]] and [[Richard Lamm]] were among those who toyed with the notion of seeking its presidential nomination, though all but Lamm decided against it; Lamm had himself come close to withdrawing his name from consideration. Lamm designated [[Ed Zschau]] as his vice presidential candidate.

Ultimately, the Reform Party nominated its founder [[Ross Perot]] from [[Texas]] in its first election as an official political party. Although Perot easily won the nomination, his victory at the party's national convention led to a schism as supporters of Lamm accused him of rigging the vote to prevent them from casting their ballots. This faction walked out of the national convention and eventually formed their own group, the [[American Reform Party]], and attempted to convince Lamm to run as an Independent in the general election; Lamm declined, pointing out a promise he made before running that he would respect the Party's final decision.

Economist [[Pat Choate]] was nominated for [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]].

== Minor parties and independents ==
{{main|Third-party and independent candidates for the 1996 United States presidential election}}
Parties in this section obtained ballot access in enough states to theoretically obtain the minimum number of electoral votes needed to win the election. Individuals included in this section completed one or more of the following actions: received, or formally announced their candidacy for, the presidential nomination of a [[Third party (United States)|third party]]; formally announced intention to run as an [[Independent politician|independent]] candidate and obtained enough ballot access to win the election; filed as a third party or non-affiliated candidate with the FEC (for other than exploratory purposes). Within each party, candidates are listed alphabetically by surname.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|<big>'''Minor party candidates, 1996'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8B0000; width:100px;"| {{color|white|Libertarian}}
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8B0000; width:100px;"| {{color|white|Green}}
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8B0000; width:100px;"| {{color|white|Natural Law}}
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#8B0000; width:100px;"| {{color|white|U.S. Taxpayers'}}
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#F08080;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''[[Harry Browne]]'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''[[Ralph Nader]]'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''[[John Hagelin]]'''''  
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''[[Howard Phillips (activist)|Howard Phillips]]'''''
|-
| [[File:HarryBrowneLPCon1998 (cropped2).jpg|center|100x100px]]
| [[File:Naderspeak.JPG|center|100x100px]]
| [[File:John S. Hagelin.jpg|center|100x100px]]
| [[File:Howard Phillips retusche.jpg|center|100x100px]]
|-
| Investment analyst
| Author and <br>consumer advocate
| Scientist <br>and researcher 
| Conservative<br> political activist
|-
|}

===Libertarian Party nomination===

[[File:BallotAccessofHarryBrowne1996.svg|thumb|right|Harry Browne was on the ballot in every state.]]
Libertarian candidates
* [[Harry Browne]]&nbsp;– writer and investment analyst from [[Tennessee]]
* Rick Tompkins&nbsp;– former candidate for Senator from [[Arizona]]
* [[Irwin Schiff]]&nbsp;– writer and prominent figure in the tax protester movement from [[Nevada]]
* Douglas J. Ohmen&nbsp;– political activist from [[California]]
* Jeffrey Diket&nbsp;– political activist from [[Louisiana]]

The [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] nominated free-market writer and investment analyst, [[Harry Browne]] from Tennessee, and selected [[Jo Jorgensen]] from [[South Carolina]] as his running-mate. Browne and Jorgensen drew 485,798 votes (0.5% of the popular vote).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|+The Balloting
|-
!Presidential Ballot!!1st
|-
![[Harry Browne]] !!416
|-
![[Rick Tompkins]]!!74
|-
!None !!61
|-
![[Irwin Schiff]]!!32
|-
!Douglas J. Ohmen!!20
|-
!Jeffrey Diket!!1
|-
![[Jo Jorgensen]]!!1
|}

===Green Party nomination===
[[File:BallotAccessofRalphNader1996.svg|thumb|right|Ralph Nader was on the ballot in twenty-one states ''(225 Electoral Votes)''. Those states with a lighter shade are states in which he was an official write-in candidate.]]

The [[Green Party of the United States]]&nbsp;– [[Ralph Nader]] of [[Connecticut]] was [[draft (politics)|drafted]] as a candidate for [[President of the United States]] on the Green Party ticket. He was not formally nominated by the [[Greens/Green Party USA|Green Party USA]], which was, at the time, the largest national Green group; instead, he was nominated independently by various state Green parties (in some areas, he appeared on the ballot as an independent). Nader vowed to spend only $5,000 in his election campaign (to avoid having to file a financial statement with the FEC). [[Winona LaDuke]], a Native American activist and economist from [[Wisconsin]], was named as his running-mate. In [[Iowa]] and [[Vermont]], Anne Goeke was listed as Nader's running mate; in New Jersey it was Madelyn Hoffman and in New York it was [[Muriel Tillinghast]].

Nader and his running mates drew 685,128 votes (0.71% of the popular vote).

===Natural Law Party nomination===

[[File:BallotAccessofJohnHagelin1996.svg|thumb|right|John Hagelin was on the ballot in forty-three states ''(463 Electoral Votes)''. Those states with a lighter shade are states in which he was an official write-in candidate.]]

The [[Natural Law Party (United States)|Natural Law Party]] for a second time nominated scientist and researcher [[John Hagelin]] for president and [[Mike Tompkins]] for vice president. The party platform included preventive health care, sustainable agriculture and renewable energy technologies. During his campaigns, Hagelin favored abortion rights without public financing, campaign finance law reform, improved gun control, a flat tax, the eradication of [[Political action committees|PACs]], a ban on [[soft money]] contributions, and [[school vouchers]], and was a believer in "[[yogic flying]]."

Hagelin and Tompkins drew 113,671 votes (0.1% of the popular vote).

===U.S. Taxpayers' Party nomination===

[[File:BallotAccessofHowardPhillips1996.svg|thumb|right|Howard Phillips was on the ballot in thirty-eight states ''(414 Electoral Votes)''. Those states with a lighter shade are states in which he was an official write-in candidate.]]

The [[U.S. Taxpayers Party]] had run its first presidential ticket in 1992, it being head by [[Howard Phillips (activist)|Howard Phillips]] who had failed to find any prominent conservative willing to take the mantle. In 1996 the situation ultimately proved the same, though [[Pat Buchanan]] for a time was widely speculated to be planning on bolting to the Taxpayers' Party should the expected Republican nominee, Senator [[Bob Dole]], name a pro-choice running-mate. When [[Jack Kemp]], who [[anti-abortion|opposed abortion]], was tapped for the position Buchanan agreed to endorse the Republican ticket. Again, Phillips found himself at a temporary post that was made permanent, with [[Herbert Titus]] being nominated for the vice presidency.

Phillips and Titus drew 182,820 votes (0.2% of the popular vote).

==General election==

===Campaign===
Without meaningful primary opposition, [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] was able to focus on the general election early, while [[Bob Dole|Dole]] was forced to move to the right and spend his campaign reserves fighting off challengers. Political adviser [[Dick Morris]] urged Clinton to raise huge sums of campaign funds via [[Campaign finance in the United States#"Soft" money/Independent expenditure|soft money]] for an unprecedented early TV blitz of swing states promoting Clinton's agenda and record. As a result, Clinton could run a campaign through the summer defining his opponent as an aged conservative far from the mainstream before Dole was in a position to respond. Compared to the 50-year-old Clinton, then 73-year-old Dole appeared especially old and frail, as illustrated by an embarrassing fall off a stage during a campaign event in [[Chico, California]]. Dole further enhanced this contrast on September 18 when he made a reference to a no-hitter thrown the day before by [[Hideo Nomo]] of the "[[Los Angeles Dodgers|Brooklyn Dodgers]]", a team that had left Brooklyn for Los Angeles 38 years earlier. A few days later Dole would make a joke about the remark by saying, "And I'd like to congratulate the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] on winning the [[National League Central|N.L. Central]]. Notice I said the St. Louis Cardinals, not the [[St. Louis Browns]]." (The Browns had left St. Louis after the 1954 season to become the [[Baltimore Orioles]].)

Dole chose to focus on Clinton as being "part of the spoiled baby boomer generation" and stating, "My generation won [World War II], and we may need to be called to service one last time." Although his message won appeal with older voters, surveys found that his age was widely held as a liability and his frequent allusions to WWII and the [[Great Depression]] in speeches and campaign ads "unappealing" to younger voters. To prove that he was still healthy and active, Dole released all of his medical records to the public and published photographs of himself running on a [[treadmill]]. After the falling incident in California, he joked that he "was trying to do [[Macarena (song)#1996 Democratic National Convention|that new Democratic dance, the macarena]]."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-09-20/news/9609200264_1_bob-dole-press-secretary-nelson-warfield-drug-abuse|title=Dole Makes Strong Rebound After Fall|date=September 20, 1996|first=Thomas|last=Hardy|work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

The Clinton campaign avoided mentioning Dole's age directly, instead choosing to confront it in more subtle ways such as the campaign slogan "Building Bridges to the Future" in contrast to the Republican candidate's frequent remarks that he was a "bridge to the past", before the social upheavals of the 1960s. Clinton, without actually calling Dole old, questioned the age of his ideas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://townhall.com/columnists/mattlewis/2008/09/25/mccain_and_obama_can_learn_a_lot_from_past_debaters |website=Townhall.com |date=September 25, 2008 |access-date=August 18, 2016 |title=McCain and Obama Can Learn A Lot From Past Debaters |first=Matt |last=Lewis |quote=It's the age of his ideas that I question }}</ref>[[File:1996 1st Presidential Debate H.png|thumbnail|Dole (left) and Clinton (right) at the first presidential debate on October 6, 1996, at [[The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts]] in [[Hartford, Connecticut]].]]

With respect to the issues, Dole promised a 15% across-the-board reduction in [[income tax]] rates and made former Congressman and [[Supply-side economics|supply side]] advocate [[Jack Kemp]] his running mate. [[Bill Clinton]] framed the narrative against Dole early, painting him as a mere clone of unpopular House Speaker [[Newt Gingrich]], warning America that Bob Dole would work in concert with the Republican Congress to slash popular social programs, like Medicare and Social Security, dubbed by Clinton as "Dole-Gingrich".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E2DC1F3FF934A35753C1A960958260 | work=The New York Times | title=Clinton And Dole, Face To Face, Spar Over Medicare And Taxes | first=Richard L. | last=Berke | date=October 7, 1996 | access-date=May 26, 2010}}</ref> Bob Dole's tax-cut plan found itself under attack from the White House, who said it would "blow a hole in the deficit," which had been cut nearly in half during his opponent's term.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/1996/36/b34915.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970628211536/http://www.businessweek.com/1996/36/b34915.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 28, 1997|title=09/02/96 Medicare, Taxes, and Bob Dole: A Talk with the President|publisher=Business Week|date=June 14, 1997|access-date=June 17, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The televised debates featured only Dole and Clinton, locking out [[Ross Perot|Perot]] and the other minor candidates from the discussion. Perot, who had been allowed to participate in the [[1992 United States presidential debates|1992 debates]], would eventually take his case to court, seeking damages from not being in the debate, as well as citing unfair coverage from the major media outlets.

In a first for either major party in a presidential election, both the Clinton and Dole campaigns had official websites. Dole invited viewers to visit his "homepage" at the end of the first debate.<ref name="wsj-1996-presidential-websites-oral-history">{{cite news |last1=Shields |first1=Mike |title=An Oral History of The First Presidential Campaign Websites in 1996 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-oral-history-of-the-first-presidential-campaign-websites-in-1996-1455831487 |access-date=November 12, 2020 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=February 18, 2016}}</ref>

Throughout the campaign, Clinton [[Historical polling for United States presidential elections#1996 United States presidential election|maintained leads in the polls]] over Dole and Perot, generally by large margins. In October, [[Republican National Committee]] "operatives urg[ed] their party's Congressional candidates to cut loose from Bob Dole and press voters to maintain a Republican majority"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/23/us/gop-pushes-congress-strategy-that-shuns-dole.html |title=G.O.P. Pushes Congress Strategy That Shuns Dole |first=Adam |last=Clyme |date=October 23, 1996 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> and spent $4 million on advertising in targeted districts.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/down-ticket-3-republicans-want-to-keep-congress-by-sacrificing-trump-good-luck-with-that-173040834.html |title=Down Ticket #3: Republicans want to keep Congress by sacrificing Trump. Good luck with that. |first=Andrew |last=Romano |date=August 16, 2016 |work=Yahoo! News}}</ref>

=== Presidential debates ===
{{Main|1996 United States presidential debates}}
Three debates, organized by the [[Commission on Presidential Debates]], took place&mdash;two between the presidential candidates and one between the vice presidential candidates:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
'''Debates among candidates for the 1996 U.S. presidential election'''
!No.
!Date
!Host
!Location
!Moderators
!Participants
!Viewership<br/>(millions)
|-
|P1
|Sunday, October 6, 1996
|[[The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts|Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts]]
|[[Hartford, Connecticut]]
|[[Jim Lehrer]]
|[[Bill Clinton|President Bill Clinton]]<br/>[[Bob Dole|Former Senator Bob Dole]]
|46.1<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.debates.org/index.php?page=1996-debates|title=CPD: 1996 Debates|website=www.debates.org|access-date=2019-01-08}}</ref>
|-
|VP
|Wednesday, October 9, 1996
|[[Mahaffey Theater]]
|[[St. Petersburg, Florida]]
|[[Jim Lehrer]]
|[[Al Gore|Vice President Al Gore]]<br/>[[Jack Kemp|Former Secretary Jack Kemp]]
|26.6<ref name=":0" />
|-
|P2
|Wednesday, October 16, 1996
|[[University of San Diego]]
|[[San Diego|San Diego, California]]
|[[Jim Lehrer]]
|[[Bill Clinton|President Bill Clinton]]<br/>[[Bob Dole|Former Senator Bob Dole]]
|36.6<ref name=":0" />
|}{{Location map+|USA|places={{Location map~ | USA
 | label = '''Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts<br />Hartford,&nbsp;CT'''
 | label_size = 50
 | position = top
 | lat_deg = 41.7627
 | lon_deg = -72.6809
 }}
 {{Location map~ | USA
 | label = '''Mahaffey Theater<br />St. Petersburg,&nbsp;FL'''
 | label_size = 50
 | position = top
 | lat_deg =27.7672
 | lon_deg = -82.6321
 }}
 {{Location map~ | USA
 | label = '''University of San Diego<br />San Diego&nbsp;CA'''
 | label_size = 65
 | position = top
 | lat_deg = 32.7719
 | lon_deg = -117.1882
 }}|alt=Map of United States showing debate locations|caption=Sites of the 1996 general election debates|width=320}}

=== Campaign donations controversy ===
{{Main|1996 United States campaign finance controversy}}
In late September 1995, questions arose regarding the [[Democratic National Committee]]'s fund-raising practices. In February the following year, China's alleged role in the campaign finance controversy first gained public attention after ''[[The Washington Post]]'' published a story stating that a [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]] investigation had discovered evidence that agents of China sought to direct contributions from foreign sources to the DNC before the 1996 presidential campaign. The paper wrote that intelligence information had showed the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. was used for coordinating contributions to the DNC<ref name=embassy>{{cite web|last1=Woodward|first1=Bob|last2=Duffy|first2=Brian|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/china1.htm|title=Chinese Embassy Role In Contributions Probed|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 13, 1997}}</ref> in violation of U.S. law forbidding non-American citizens from giving monetary donations to U.S. politicians and political parties. Seventeen people were eventually convicted for fraud or for funneling Asian funds into the U.S. elections.

One of the more notable events learned involved Vice President [[Al Gore]] and a fund-raising event held at [[Hsi Lai Temple]] in [[Hacienda Heights, California]]. The Temple event was organized by DNC fund-raisers [[John Huang]] and [[Maria Hsia]]. It is illegal under U.S. law for religious organizations to donate money to politicians or political groups due to their tax-exempt status. The U.S. Justice Department alleged Hsia facilitated $100,000 in illegal contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign through her efforts at the Temple. Hsia was eventually convicted by a jury in March 2000.<ref name=hsiaconviction>{{cite web|last1=Eskenazi|first1=Michael|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/03/03/gore3_3.a.tm/index.html|title=For both Gore and GOP, a guilty verdict to watch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403040001/http://transcripts.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/03/03/gore3_3.a.tm/index.html|archive-date=April 3, 2013|website=CNN|date=March 3, 2000}}</ref> The DNC eventually returned the money donated by the Temple's monks and nuns. Twelve nuns and employees of the Temple refused to answer questions by pleading the [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment]] when they were [[subpoena]]ed to testify before Congress in 1997.<ref name=witnesses>{{cite web|last1=Abse|first1=Nathan|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/fifth060998.htm|title=A Look at the 94 Who Aren't Talking|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=June 9, 1998}}</ref>

===Results===
On election day, President Clinton won a decisive victory over Dole, becoming the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in [[1936 United States presidential election|1936]], [[1940 United States presidential election|1940]], and [[1944 United States presidential election|1944]]. In the popular vote, he out-polled Dole by over 8.2 million votes. The Electoral College map did not change much from the [[United States presidential election|previous election]], with the Democratic incumbent winning 379 votes to the Republican ticket's 159. In the West, Dole managed to narrowly win Colorado and Montana (both had voted for Clinton four years earlier), while Clinton became the first Democrat to win Arizona since Harry Truman in [[1948 United States presidential election|1948]]. In the South, Clinton won Florida, a state he had failed to win in 1992, but lost Georgia, a state that he had carried. The election helped to cement Democratic presidential control in California, Vermont, Maine, Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut; all went on to vote Democratic in every subsequent presidential election after having voted Republican in the five prior to 1992. 1996 marked the first time that Vermont voted for a Democrat in two successive elections. Pennsylvania and Michigan both voted Democratic, and would remain in the Democratic presidential fold until [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]].

Although Clinton's margin of victory in the popular vote was slightly greater than that of [[George H. W. Bush|George H.W. Bush]] [[1988 United States presidential election|eight years prior]], he won fewer states, in part due to his relatively poor performance in areas of low population density – a precursor of the trend where future Democratic contenders for the presidency perform very well in populous metropolitan areas but vastly underperform in rural counties.

Reform Party nominee [[Ross Perot]] won approximately 8% of the popular vote. His vote total was less than half of his performance in 1992. The 1996 national exit poll showed that just as in 1992,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DB1F3FF936A35752C1A964958260 | work=The New York Times | title=THE 1992 ELECTIONS: DISAPPOINTMENT – NEWS ANALYSIS An Eccentric but No Joke; Perot's Strong Showing Raises Questions On What Might Have Been, and Might Be | first=Steven A. | last=Holmes | date=November 5, 1992 | access-date=May 26, 2010}}</ref> Perot drew supporters from Clinton and Dole equally.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/elections/natl.exit.poll/index1.html|title=AllPolitics – Presidential Election Exit Poll Results|publisher=CNN|date=November 1996}}</ref> In polls directed at Perot voters as to who would be a second choice, Clinton consistently held substantial leads.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/polls/cnn.usa.gallup/tracking/|title=AllPolitics – Tracking Poll|publisher=CNN|date=November 4, 1996}}</ref> Perot's best showing was in states that tended to strongly favor either Clinton (such as Maine) or Dole (particularly Montana, though the margin of victory there was much closer). Perot once again received his lowest amount of support in the South.

Although Clinton is a native of Arkansas and his running mate hailed from Tennessee, the Democratic ticket carried just four of the eleven states of the [[Confederate States of America|former Confederacy]] (and none of those four have voted Democratic in any election since). As such, Clinton's 1992 run was tied for the weakest performance in the region by a nationally successful Democratic presidential candidate up until that point. Clinton's performance both followed and preceded a substantial decline in support for the Democratic Party in the South; in the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]] and [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 elections]], the Democrats would fail to carry even one of the former Confederate states, contributing to their defeat both times. This completed the Republican takeover of the American South, a region in which Democrats had held a near monopoly from [[1880 United States presidential election|1880]] to 1948. In [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]], the Democrats were able to win three former Confederate states ([[United States presidential elections in Virginia|Virginia]], [[United States presidential elections in North Carolina|North Carolina]], and [[United States presidential elections in Florida|Florida]]), however this was still a worse performance than either of Clinton's. Since [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]], no winning presidential candidate has surpassed Bill Clinton's 8.5 percent popular vote margin, or his 220 electoral vote margin since [[1988 United States presidential election|1988]]. Additionally, since [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]], no other Democratic presidential candidate has surpassed Clinton's electoral vote margin and, except [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] in that election, no Democratic presidential candidate has surpassed Clinton's 8.5 percentage popular vote margin since 1940.

The election also marked the first time in U.S. history that the winner was elected without winning the male vote, the third time in U.S. history that a candidate won two terms as president without winning a majority either time (after [[Grover Cleveland]] and [[Woodrow Wilson]]).<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Clinton also remains the last presidential candidate of either party to win at least one county in every state.<ref>Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century 'How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century']; ''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016</ref> Clinton maintained a consistent polling edge over Dole, and he won re-election with a substantial margin in the popular vote and the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]]. Clinton became the first Democrat since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] to win two consecutive presidential elections. Dole won 40.7% of the popular vote and 159 electoral votes, while Perot won 8.4% of the popular vote. Despite Dole's defeat, the Republican Party was able to maintain majorities in both the [[United States House of Representatives elections, 1996|House of Representatives]] and the [[United States Senate elections, 1996|Senate]]. Voter turnout was registered at 51.7%, the lowest for a presidential election since [[1924 United States presidential election|1924]]. 

As of [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]], this remains the last time that the states of [[Kentucky]], [[Louisiana]], [[West Virginia]], [[Arkansas]], [[Missouri]], and [[Tennessee]] were carried by a Democratic presidential nominee. It was also the first time most Arizona voters chose a Democratic candidate since [[1948 United States presidential election|1948]], which they would not do again until 2020. Five states switched party predominance in 1996 with their presidential voting: [[Montana]], [[Colorado]], and [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] were flipped by Senator Dole, while [[Florida]] and [[Arizona]] were flipped by President Clinton. This is also the most recent time a third-party candidate finished with over 5% of the vote nationwide. This is the last time a Democratic president was re-elected with a higher share of the electoral or popular vote.

{{start U.S. presidential ticket box| pv_footnote=| ev_footnote=}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[William Jefferson Clinton]] (Incumbent)| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]{{efn|''In [[New York (state)|New York]], the Clinton vote was a fusion of the Democratic and [[Liberal Party of New York|Liberal]] slates. There, Clinton obtained 3,649,630 votes on the Democratic ticket and 106,547 votes on the Liberal ticket.''<ref name="split_ticket">{{cite web| url=http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/1996/96Stat.htm| title='96 Presidential and Congressional Election Statistics| work=Official website of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives| access-date=February 17, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060126213548/http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/1996/96Stat.htm |archive-date = January 26, 2006}}</ref>}}| state=[[Arkansas]]| pv=47,401,185| pv_pct=49.24%| ev=379| vp_name=[[Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.]] (Incumbent) | vp_state=[[Tennessee]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Robert Joseph Dole]]| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]{{efn|''In [[New York (state)|New York]], the Dole vote was a fusion of the Republican, [[Conservative Party of New York State|Conservative]], and Freedom slates. There, Dole obtained 1,738,707 votes on the Republican ticket, 183,392 votes on the Conservative ticket, and 11,393 votes on the Freedom ticket.''<ref name="split_ticket" />}}| state=[[Kansas]]| pv=39,197,469| pv_pct=40.71%| ev=159| vp_name=[[Jack Kemp|Jack French Kemp]]| vp_state=[[New York (state)|New York]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/08/09/the-effect-of-veep-picks-in-two-charts/ |title=The effect of veep picks, in two charts |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=August 9, 2012 |access-date=November 27, 2014 |quote=Jack Kemp, whose home state of New York saw an even stronger anti-Republican swing in 1996 }}</ref>}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Henry Ross Perot]]| party=[[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform]]{{efn|''[[United States presidential elections in South Carolina|In South Carolina]], the Perot vote was a fusion of the Reform and Patriot slates. There, Perot obtained 27,464 votes on the Reform ticket and 36,913 votes on the Patriot ticket.''<ref name="split_ticket" />}}| state=[[Texas]]| pv=8,085,294| pv_pct=8.40%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Patrick Choate]]{{efn|''On the [[United States presidential election in California, 1996|California]], [[United States presidential election in Indiana, 1996|Indiana]], [[United States presidential election in Iowa, 1996|Iowa]], [[United States presidential election in Kansas, 1996|Kansas]], [[United States presidential election in Louisiana, 1996|Louisiana]], [[United States presidential election in Maine, 1996|Maine]], [[United States presidential election in Maryland, 1996|Maryland]], [[United States presidential election in Missouri, 1996|Missouri]], [[United States presidential election in Montana, 1996|Montana]], [[United States presidential election in Oregon, 1996|Oregon]], [[United States presidential election in South Dakota, 1996|South Dakota]], [[United States presidential election in Tennessee, 1996|Tennessee]], and [[United States presidential election in Texas, 1996|Texas]] election ballots, James Campbell of California, Perot's former boss at [[IBM]], was listed as a stand-in Vice-Presidential candidate until Perot decided on Pat Choate as his choice for Vice President.''}}| vp_state=Washington, D.C.}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Ralph Nader]]| party=[[Green Party of the United States|Green]]| state=[[Connecticut]]| pv=684,871| pv_pct=0.71%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Winona LaDuke]]{{efn|''The Green Party vice presidential candidate varied from state to state. Winona LaDuke was his vice presidential candidate in eighteen of the twenty-two states where he appeared on the ballot. Anne Goeke was Nader's running mate in Iowa<ref>{{cite web| year=1996| url=http://www.co.cerro-gordo.ia.us/1996Minutes/November%2012,%201996.pdf| title=November 12, 1996| work=Minutes of the Meetings of the Board of Supervisors| publisher=Cerro Gordo County| access-date=March 30, 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526215035/http://www.co.cerro-gordo.ia.us/1996Minutes/November%2012,%201996.pdf| archive-date=May 26, 2006| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref> and Vermont. Madelyn Hoffman was his running mate in New Jersey.<ref>{{cite news| last=Fernandez| first=Sonia| url=http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2000/02/22/news/234.shtml| title=Nader '55 to run for president| work=The Daily Princetonian| publisher=Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc| date=February 22, 2000| access-date=March 30, 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324210947/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2000/02/22/news/234.shtml| archive-date=March 24, 2007| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref> Muriel Tillinghast was his running mate in New York.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.co.cattaraugus.ny.us/election_board/past-elections/1996/presandvp.html| title=Electors of President and Vice President| work=Cattaraugus County: Board of Elections: 1996 Election Results| publisher=Cattaraugus County, New York State| access-date=March 30, 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928123601/http://www.co.cattaraugus.ny.us/election_board/past-elections/1996/presandvp.html| archive-date=September 28, 2007| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}}</ref>''}}| vp_state=[[California]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Harry Edson Browne]]| party=[[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]]| state=[[Tennessee]]| pv=485,759| pv_pct=0.50%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Jo Jorgensen]]| vp_state=[[South Carolina]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Howard Jay Phillips]]| party=[[Constitution Party (United States)|Taxpayers]]| state=[[Virginia]]| pv=184,656| pv_pct=0.19%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Herbert W. Titus]]| vp_state=[[Oregon]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[John Samuel Hagelin]]| party=[[United States Natural Law Party|Natural Law]]| state=[[Iowa]]| pv=113,667| pv_pct=0.12%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Mike Tompkins]]| vp_state=[[Massachusetts]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box other| footnote={{efn|{{U.S. presidential election PV minimum}}}}| pv=121,663| pv_pct=0.12%}}
{{end U.S. presidential ticket box| pv=96,274,564| ev=538| to_win=270}}
'''Official Source (Popular Vote): [https://web.archive.org/web/20100127215534/http://www.fec.gov/96fed/geresult.htm 1996 Official Presidential General Election Results]'''

'''Source (popular and electoral vote): [http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/elecpop.htm Federal Elections Commission Electoral and Popular Vote Summary]'''
unofficial
'''Secondary Source (Popular Vote):''' {{Leip PV source 2| year=1996| as of=August 7, 2005}}

'''Voting age population:''' 196,498,000

'''Percent of voting age population casting a vote for President:''' 49.00%

{{bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Clinton'''|{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}|49.24}}
{{bar percent|Dole|{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}|40.71}}
{{bar percent|Perot|{{party color|Reform Party of the United States of America}}|8.40}}
{{bar percent|Nader|{{party color|Green Party (US)}}|0.71}}
{{bar percent|Browne|{{party color|Libertarian Party (US)}}|0.50}}
{{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.44}}
}}
{{bar box
|title=Electoral vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Clinton'''|{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}|70.45}}
{{bar percent|Dole|{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}|29.55}}
}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1996-Large.png|650px|thumb|left]]
<gallery perrow="3" widths="500px" heights="317px">
Image:1996prescountymap2.PNG|Election results by county.{{legend|#1560BD|[[Bill Clinton]]|border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}{{legend|#E32636|[[Bob Dole]]|border=1px #AAAAAA solid}}
Image:1996 Presidential Election, Results by Congressional District.png|Results by congressional district.
Image:1996 United States presidential election results map by county.svg|Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote.
</gallery>

===Results by state===

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Legend
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
|colspan=2| States/districts won by [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]]/[[Al Gore|Gore]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
|colspan=2| States/districts won by [[Bob Dole|Dole]]/[[Jack Kemp|Kemp]]
|-
| † || At-large results (For states that split electoral votes)
|}
<div style="overflow:auto">
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;font-size:90%;"
|-
! colspan=2 |
! colspan="3" scope="col" | Bill Clinton<br/>Democratic
! colspan="3" scope="col" | Bob Dole<br/>Republican
! colspan="3" scope="col" | Ross Perot<br/>Reform
! colspan="3" scope="col" | Ralph Nader<br/>Green
! colspan="3" scope="col" | Harry Browne<br/>Libertarian
! colspan="3" scope="col" | Others
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Margin
! colspan="2" scope="col" | State Total
|-
! scope="col" | State
! style=font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | elec&shy;toral<br/>votes
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | #
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | %
! style="font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | elec&shy;toral<br/>votes
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | #
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | %
! style="font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | elec&shy;toral<br/>votes
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | #
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | %
! style="font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | elec&shy;toral<br/>votes
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | #
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | %
! style="font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | elec&shy;toral<br/>votes
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | #
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | %
! style="font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | elec&shy;toral<br/>votes
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | #
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | %
! style="font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | elec&shy;toral<br/>votes
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | #
! data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | %
! style="font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" scope="col" | #
!
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Alabama|Alabama]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
| 662,165
| 43.16%
| –
| 769,044
| 50.12%
| 9
| 92,149
| 6.01%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 5,290
| 0.34%
| –
| 5,701
| 0.37%
| –
| −106,879
| −6.96%
| 1,534,349
| style="text-align:center;" | AL
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Alaska|Alaska]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 80,380
| 33.27%
| –
| 122,746
| 50.80%
| 3
| 26,333
| 10.90%
| –
| 7,597
| 3.14%
| –
| 2,276
| 0.94%
| –
| 2,288
| 0.95%
| –
| −42,366
| −17.53%
| 241,620
| style="text-align:center;" | AK
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Arizona|Arizona]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 653,288
| 46.52%
| 8
| 622,073
| 44.29%
| –
| 112,072
| 7.98%
| –
| 2,062
| 0.15%
| –
| 14,358
| 1.02%
| –
| 552
| 0.04%
| –
| 31,215
| 2.23%
| 1,404,405
| style="text-align:center;" | AZ
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Arkansas|Arkansas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 475,171
| 53.74%
| 6
| 325,416
| 36.80%
| –
| 69,884
| 7.90%
| –
| 3,649
| 0.41%
| –
| 3,076
| 0.35%
| –
| 7,066
| 0.80%
| –
| 149,755
| 16.94%
| 884,262
| style="text-align:center;" | AR
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in California|California]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 54
| 5,119,835
| 51.10%
| 54
| 3,828,380
| 38.21%
| –
| 697,847
| 6.96%
| –
| 237,016
| 2.37%
| –
| 73,600
| 0.73%
| –
| 62,806
| 0.63%
| –
| 1,291,455
| 12.89%
| 10,019,484
| style="text-align:center;" | CA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Colorado|Colorado]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 671,152
| 44.43%
| –
| 691,848
| 45.80%
| 8
| 99,629
| 6.59%
| –
| 25,070
| 1.66%
| –
| 12,392
| 0.82%
| –
| 10,613
| 0.70%
| –
| −20,696
| −1.37%
| 1,510,704
| style="text-align:center;" | CO
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 735,740
| 52.83%
| 8
| 483,109
| 34.69%
| –
| 139,523
| 10.02%
| –
| 24,321
| 1.75%
| –
| 5,788
| 0.42%
| –
| 4,133
| 0.30%
| –
| 252,631
| 18.14%
| 1,392,614
| style="text-align:center;" | CT
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 140,355
| 51.80%
| 3
| 99,062
| 36.58%
| –
| 28,719
| 10.60%
| –
| 18
| 0.01%
| –
| 2,052
| 0.76%
| –
| 639
| 0.24%
| –
| 41,293
| 15.22%
| 270,845
| style="text-align:center;" | DE
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia|D.C.]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 158,220
| 85.19%
| 3
| 17,339
| 9.34%
| –
| 3,611
| 1.94%
| –
| 4,780
| 2.57%
| –
| 588
| 0.32%
| –
| 1,188
| 0.64%
| –
| 140,881
| 75.85%
| 185,726
| style="text-align:center;" | DC
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Florida|Florida]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 25
| 2,546,870
| 48.02%
| 25
| 2,244,536
| 42.32%
| –
| 483,870
| 9.12%
| –
| 4,101
| 0.08%
| –
| 23,965
| 0.45%
| –
| 452
| 0.01%
| –
| 302,334
| 5.70%
| 5,303,794
| style="text-align:center;" | FL
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
| 1,053,849
| 45.84%
| –
| 1,080,843
| 47.01%
| 13
| 146,337
| 6.37%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 17,870
| 0.78%
| –
| 172
| 0.01%
| –
| −26,994
| −1.17%
| 2,299,071
| style="text-align:center;" | GA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Hawaii|Hawaii]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 205,012
| 56.93%
| 4
| 113,943
| 31.64%
| –
| 27,358
| 7.60%
| –
| 10,386
| 2.88%
| –
| 2,493
| 0.69%
| –
| 928
| 0.26%
| –
| 91,069
| 25.29%
| 360,120
| style="text-align:center;" | HI
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Idaho|Idaho]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 165,443
| 33.65%
| –
| 256,595
| 52.18%
| 4
| 62,518
| 12.71%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 3,325
| 0.68%
| –
| 3,838
| 0.78%
| –
| −91,152
| −18.53%
| 491,719
| style="text-align:center;" | ID
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Illinois|Illinois]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 22
| 2,341,744
| 54.32%
| 22
| 1,587,021
| 36.81%
| –
| 346,408
| 8.03%
| –
| 1,447
| 0.03%
| –
| 22,548
| 0.52%
| –
| 12,223
| 0.29%
| –
| 754,723
| 17.51%
| 4,311,391
| style="text-align:center;" | IL
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Indiana|Indiana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 887,424
| 41.55%
| –
| 1,006,693
| 47.13%
| 12
| 224,299
| 10.50%
| –
| 1,121
| 0.05%
| –
| 15,632
| 0.73%
| –
| 673
| 0.03%
| –
| −119,269
| −5.58%
| 2,135,842
| style="text-align:center;" | IN
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Iowa|Iowa]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
| 620,258
| 50.26%
| 7
| 492,644
| 39.92%
| –
| 105,159
| 8.52%
| –
| 6,550
| 0.53%
| –
| 2,315
| 0.19%
| –
| 7,149
| 0.58%
| –
| 127,614
| 10.34%
| 1,234,075
| style="text-align:center;" | IA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Kansas|Kansas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| 387,659
| 36.08%
| –
| 583,245
| 54.29%
| 6
| 92,639
| 8.62%
| –
| 914
| 0.09%
| –
| 4,557
| 0.42%
| –
| 5,286
| 0.49%
| –
| −195,586
| −18.21%
| 1,074,300
| style="text-align:center;" | KS
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Kentucky|Kentucky]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 636,614
| 45.84%
| 8
| 623,283
| 44.88%
| –
| 120,396
| 8.67%
| –
| 701
| 0.05%
| –
| 4,009
| 0.29%
| –
| 3,705
| 0.27%
| –
| 13,331
| 0.96%
| 1,388,708
| style="text-align:center;" | KY
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Louisiana|Louisiana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
| 927,837
| 52.01%
| 9
| 712,586
| 39.94%
| –
| 123,293
| 6.91%
| –
| 4,719
| 0.26%
| –
| 7,499
| 0.42%
| –
| 8,025
| 0.45%
| –
| 215,251
| 12.07%
| 1,783,959
| style="text-align:center;" | LA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Maine|Maine]]<sup>†</sup>
| style="text-align:center;" | 2
| 312,788
| 51.62%
| 2
| 186,378
| 30.76%
| –
| 85,970
| 14.19%
| –
| 15,279
| 2.52%
| –
| 2,996
| 0.49%
| –
| 2,486
| 0.41%
| –
| 126,410
| 20.86%
| 605,897
| style="text-align:center;" | ME
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[Maine's 1st congressional district|''Maine-1'']]
|style="text-align:center;"|''1''||''165,053''||''52.1%''||''1''||''100,851''||''31.8%''||–||''39,845''||''12.6%''||–||–||–||–||–||–||–||''11,372''||''3.6%''||–||''64,202''||''20.3%''||''317,121''||''ME1''
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[Maine's 2nd congressional district|''Maine-2'']]
|style="text-align:center;"|''1''||''147,735''||''51.2%''||''1''||''85,527''||''29.6%''||–||''46,125''||''16.0%''||–||–||–||–||–||–||–||''9.389''||''3.3%''||–||''62,208''||''21.5%''||''288,776''||''ME2''
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 966,207
| 54.25%
| 10
| 681,530
| 38.27%
| –
| 115,812
| 6.50%
| –
| 2,606
| 0.15%
| –
| 8,765
| 0.49%
| –
| 5,950
| 0.33%
| –
| 284,677
| 15.98%
| 1,780,870
| style="text-align:center;" | MD
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
| 1,571,763
| 61.47%
| 12
| 718,107
| 28.08%
| –
| 227,217
| 8.89%
| –
| 4,565
| 0.18%
| –
| 20,426
| 0.80%
| –
| 14,708
| 0.58%
| –
| 853,656
| 33.39%
| 2,556,786
| style="text-align:center;" | MA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Michigan|Michigan]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 18
| 1,989,653
| 51.69%
| 18
| 1,481,212
| 38.48%
| –
| 336,670
| 8.75%
| –
| 2,322
| 0.06%
| –
| 27,670
| 0.72%
| –
| 11,317
| 0.29%
| –
| 508,441
| 13.21%
| 3,848,844
| style="text-align:center;" | MI
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Minnesota|Minnesota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
| 1,120,438
| 51.10%
| 10
| 766,476
| 34.96%
| –
| 257,704
| 11.75%
| –
| 24,908
| 1.14%
| –
| 8,271
| 0.38%
| –
| 14,843
| 0.68%
| –
| 353,962
| 16.14%
| 2,192,640
| style="text-align:center;" | MN
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Mississippi|Mississippi]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
| 394,022
| 44.08%
| –
| 439,838
| 49.21%
| 7
| 52,222
| 5.84%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 2,809
| 0.31%
| –
| 4,966
| 0.56%
| –
| −45,816
| −5.13%
| 893,857
| style="text-align:center;" | MS
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Missouri|Missouri]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
| 1,025,935
| 47.54%
| 11
| 890,016
| 41.24%
| –
| 217,188
| 10.06%
| –
| 534
| 0.02%
| –
| 10,522
| 0.49%
| –
| 13,870
| 0.64%
| –
| 135,919
| 6.30%
| 2,158,065
| style="text-align:center;" | MO
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Montana|Montana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 167,922
| 41.23%
| –
| 179,652
| 44.11%
| 3
| 55,229
| 13.56%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 2,526
| 0.62%
| –
| 1,932
| 0.47%
| –
| −11,730
| −2.88%
| 407,261
| style="text-align:center;" | MT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Nebraska|Nebraska]]<sup>†</sup>
| style="text-align:center;" | 2
| 236,761
| 34.95%
| –
| 363,467
| 53.65%
| 2
| 71,278
| 10.52%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 2,792
| 0.41%
| –
| 3,117
| 0.46%
| –
| −126,706
| −18.70%
| 677,415
| style="text-align:center;" | NE
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[Nebraska's 1st congressional district|''Nebraska-1'']]
|style="text-align:center;"|''1''||''87,713''||''38.1%''||–||''114,560''||''49.7%''||''1''||''25,973''||''11.3%''||–||–||–||–||–||–||–||''2,074''||''0.9%''||–||''-28,847''||''-11.7%''||''230,330''
|style="text-align:center;"| ''NE1''
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[Nebraska's 2nd congressional district|''Nebraska-2'']]
|style="text-align:center;"|''1''||''84,666''||''38.0%''||–||''116,892''||''52.5%''||''1''||''18,935''||''8.5%''||–||–||–||–||–||–||–||''2,164''||''1.0%''||–||''-32,226''||''-14.5%''||''222,660''
|style="text-align:center;"| ''NE2''
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[Nebraska's 3rd congressional district|''Nebraska-3'']]
|style="text-align:center;"|''1''||''64,382''||''28.7%''||–||''132,015''||''58.8%''||''1''||''26,370''||''11.8%''||–||–||–||–||–||–||–||''1,658''||''0.7%''||–||''-67,633''||''-30.1%''||''224,425''
|style="text-align:center;"| ''NE3''
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Nevada|Nevada]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 203,974
| 43.93%
| 4
| 199,244
| 42.91%
| –
| 43,986
| 9.47%
| –
| 4,730
| 1.02%
| –
| 4,460
| 0.96%
| –
| 7,885
| 1.70%
| –
| 4,730
| 1.02%
| 464,279
| style="text-align:center;" | NV
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 246,214
| 49.32%
| 4
| 196,532
| 39.37%
| –
| 48,390
| 9.69%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 4,237
| 0.85%
| –
| 3,802
| 0.76%
| –
| 49,682
| 9.95%
| 499,175
| style="text-align:center;" | NH
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 15
| 1,652,329
| 53.72%
| 15
| 1,103,078
| 35.86%
| –
| 262,134
| 8.52%
| –
| 32,465
| 1.06%
| –
| 14,763
| 0.48%
| –
| 11,038
| 0.36%
| –
| 549,251
| 17.86%
| 3,075,807
| style="text-align:center;" | NJ
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in New Mexico|New Mexico]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| 273,495
| 49.18%
| 5
| 232,751
| 41.86%
| –
| 32,257
| 5.80%
| –
| 13,218
| 2.38%
| –
| 2,996
| 0.54%
| –
| 1,357
| 0.24%
| –
| 40,744
| 7.32%
| 556,074
| style="text-align:center;" | NM
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in New York|New York]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 33
| 3,756,177
| 59.47%
| 33
| 1,933,492
| 30.61%
| –
| 503,458
| 7.97%
| –
| 75,956
| 1.20%
| –
| 12,220
| 0.19%
| –
| 34,826
| 0.55%
| –
| 1,822,685
| 28.86%
| 6,316,129
| style="text-align:center;" | NY
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in North Carolina|North Carolina]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 14
| 1,107,849
| 44.04%
| –
| 1,225,938
| 48.73%
| 14
| 168,059
| 6.68%
| –
| 2,108
| 0.08%
| –
| 8,740
| 0.35%
| –
| 3,113
| 0.12%
| –
| −118,089
| −4.69%
| 2,515,807
| style="text-align:center;" | NC
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in North Dakota|North Dakota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 106,905
| 40.13%
| –
| 125,050
| 46.94%
| 3
| 32,515
| 12.20%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 847
| 0.32%
| –
| 1,094
| 0.41%
| –
| −18,145
| −6.81%
| 266,411
| style="text-align:center;" | ND
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Ohio|Ohio]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 21
| 2,148,222
| 47.38%
| 21
| 1,859,883
| 41.02%
| –
| 483,207
| 10.66%
| –
| 2,962
| 0.07%
| –
| 12,851
| 0.28%
| –
| 27,309
| 0.60%
| –
| 288,339
| 6.36%
| 4,534,434
| style="text-align:center;" | OH
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Oklahoma|Oklahoma]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 488,105
| 40.45%
| –
| 582,315
| 48.26%
| 8
| 130,788
| 10.84%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 5,505
| 0.46%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| −94,210
| −7.81%
| 1,206,713
| style="text-align:center;" | OK
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Oregon|Oregon]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
| 649,641
| 47.15%
| 7
| 538,152
| 39.06%
| –
| 121,221
| 8.80%
| –
| 49,415
| 3.59%
| –
| 8,903
| 0.65%
| –
| 10,428
| 0.76%
| –
| 111,489
| 8.09%
| 1,377,760
| style="text-align:center;" | OR
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 23
| 2,215,819
| 49.17%
| 23
| 1,801,169
| 39.97%
| –
| 430,984
| 9.56%
| –
| 3,086
| 0.07%
| –
| 28,000
| 0.62%
| –
| 27,060
| 0.60%
| –
| 414,650
| 9.20%
| 4,506,118
| style="text-align:center;" | PA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|Rhode Island]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| 233,050
| 59.71%
| 4
| 104,683
| 26.82%
| –
| 43,723
| 11.20%
| –
| 6,040
| 1.55%
| –
| 1,109
| 0.28%
| –
| 1,679
| 0.43%
| –
| 128,367
| 32.89%
| 390,284
| style="text-align:center;" | RI
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| 506,283
| 43.96%
| –
| 573,458
| 49.79%
| 8
| 64,386
| 5.59%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 4,271
| 0.37%
| –
| 3,291
| 0.29%
| –
| −67,175
| −5.83%
| 1,151,689
| style="text-align:center;" | SC
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in South Dakota|South Dakota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 139,333
| 43.03%
| –
| 150,543
| 46.49%
| 3
| 31,250
| 9.65%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 1,472
| 0.45%
| –
| 1,228
| 0.38%
| –
| −11,210
| −3.46%
| 323,826
| style="text-align:center;" | SD
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Tennessee|Tennessee]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
| 909,146
| 48.00%
| 11
| 863,530
| 45.59%
| –
| 105,918
| 5.59%
| –
| 6,427
| 0.34%
| –
| 5,020
| 0.27%
| –
| 4,064
| 0.21%
| –
| 45,616
| 2.41%
| 1,894,105
| style="text-align:center;" | TN
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Texas|Texas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 32
| 2,459,683
| 43.83%
| –
| 2,736,167
| 48.76%
| 32
| 378,537
| 6.75%
| –
| 4,810
| 0.09%
| –
| 20,256
| 0.36%
| –
| 12,191
| 0.22%
| –
| −276,484
| −4.93%
| 5,611,644
| style="text-align:center;" | TX
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Utah|Utah]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| 221,633
| 33.30%
| –
| 361,911
| 54.37%
| 5
| 66,461
| 9.98%
| –
| 4,615
| 0.69%
| –
| 4,129
| 0.62%
| –
| 6,880
| 1.03%
| –
| −140,278
| −21.07%
| 665,629
| style="text-align:center;" | UT
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 137,894
| 53.35%
| 3
| 80,352
| 31.09%
| –
| 31,024
| 12.00%
| –
| 5,585
| 2.16%
| –
| 1,183
| 0.46%
| –
| 2,411
| 0.93%
| –
| 57,542
| 22.26%
| 258,449
| style="text-align:center;" | VT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
| 1,091,060
| 45.15%
| –
| 1,138,350
| 47.10%
| 13
| 159,861
| 6.62%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 9,174
| 0.38%
| –
| 18,197
| 0.75%
| –
| −47,290
| −1.95%
| 2,416,642
| style="text-align:center;" | VA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Washington (state)|Washington]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
| 1,123,323
| 49.84%
| 11
| 840,712
| 37.30%
| –
| 201,003
| 8.92%
| –
| 60,322
| 2.68%
| –
| 12,522
| 0.56%
| –
| 15,955
| 0.71%
| –
| 282,611
| 12.54%
| 2,253,837
| style="text-align:center;" | WA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in West Virginia|West Virginia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| 327,812
| 51.51%
| 5
| 233,946
| 36.76%
| –
| 71,639
| 11.26%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 3,062
| 0.48%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 93,866
| 14.75%
| 636,459
| style="text-align:center;" | WV
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Wisconsin|Wisconsin]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
| 1,071,971
| 48.81%
| 11
| 845,029
| 38.48%
| –
| 227,339
| 10.35%
| –
| 28,723
| 1.31%
| –
| 7,929
| 0.36%
| –
| 15,178
| 0.69%
| –
| 226,942
| 10.33%
| 2,196,169
| style="text-align:center;" | WI
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1996 United States presidential election in Wyoming|Wyoming]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| 77,934
| 36.84%
| –
| 105,388
| 49.81%
| 3
| 25,928
| 12.25%
| –
| –
| –
| –
| 1,739
| 0.82%
| –
| 582
| 0.28%
| –
| −27,454
| −12.97%
| 211,571
| style="text-align:center;" | WY
|-
! TOTALS:
! 538
! 47,402,357
! 49.24%
! 379
! 39,198,755
! 40.71%
! 159
! 8,085,402
! 8.40%
! –
! 685,128
! 0.71%
! –
! 485,798
! 0.50%
! –
! 420,194
! 0.44%
! –
! 8,203,602
! 8.52%
! 96,277,634
! US
|}</div>
<ref name="auto">[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1996&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0 1996 Presidential General Election Data - National], Uselectionatlas.org.</ref>

====Maine and Nebraska district results====
<sup>†</sup>Maine and Nebraska each allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates. In both states, two electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the statewide race and one electoral vote is awarded to the winner of each congressional district.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quain |first1=Anthony J. |title=The Political Reference Almanac, 1999–2000 |date=1999 |publisher=Keynote Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-9670286-0-6 |pages=405, 406, 435, 436}}</ref>

====Close states====
State where the margin of victory was under 1% (8 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Kentucky, 0.96% (13,331 votes)'''</span>

States where the margin of victory was under 5% (109 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Nevada, 1.02% (4,730 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Georgia, 1.17% (26,994 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Colorado, 1.37% (20,696 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Virginia, 1.96% (47,290 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Arizona, 2.22% (31,215 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Tennessee, 2.41% (45,616 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Montana, 2.88% (11,730 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''South Dakota, 3.46% (11,210 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''North Carolina, 4.69% (118,089 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Texas, 4.93% (276,484 votes)'''</span>

States where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (143 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:red;">'''Mississippi, 5.13% (45,816 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Indiana, 5.58% (119,269 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Florida, 5.70% (302,334 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''South Carolina, 6.04% (69,407 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Missouri, 6.30% (135,919 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Ohio, 6.36% (288,339 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''North Dakota, 6.81% (18,145 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Alabama, 6.96% (106,879 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''New Mexico, 7.32% (40,744 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Oklahoma, 7.81% (94,210 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Oregon, 8.09% (111,489 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Pennsylvania, 9.20% (414,650 votes)'''</span> (tipping point state)
# <span style="color:blue;">'''New Hampshire, 9.95% (49,682 votes)'''</span>

==== Statistics ====
<ref name="auto"/>

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Starr County, Texas]] 86.94%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[The Bronx|Bronx County, New York]] 85.80%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Macon County, Alabama]] 85.55%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Washington, D.C.]] 85.19%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Duval County, Texas]] 84.94%</span>'''

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Ochiltree County, Texas]] 79.20%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Russell County, Kansas]] 78.98%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Glasscock County, Texas]] 78.93%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Hayes County, Nebraska]] 77.02%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Sioux County, Iowa]] 77.00%</span>'''

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Other)
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Mineral County, Montana]] 23.72%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Grant County, North Dakota]] 21.55%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Shoshone County, Idaho]] 21.55%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Sanders County, Montana]] 21.24%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:green;">[[Billings County, North Dakota]] 21.10%</span>'''

==Voter demographics==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! colspan="8" |The Presidential vote in social groups (percentages)
|-
! Social group
! {{party shading/Democratic}}|Clinton
! {{party shading/Republican}}|Dole
! style="background:#9370db;"|Perot
! style="background-color:#DDDDDD;"|Others
! % of<br/>total vote
|-
| Total vote
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 49
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 41
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 100
|-
! colspan=6|Party and ideology
|-
| [[Conservatism in the United States|Conservative]] Republicans
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 6
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 88
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 21
|-
| [[Moderate]] Republicans
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 20
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 72
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 13
|-
| [[Modern liberalism in the United States|Liberal]] Republicans
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 44
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 46
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
|-
| Conservative independents
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 19
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 60
| style="text-align:right;" | 19
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
|-
| Moderate independents
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 50
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 30
| style="text-align:right;" | 17
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 15
|-
| Liberal [[independent (voter)|independents]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 58
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 15
| style="text-align:right;" | 18
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 4
|-
| [[Conservative Democrat]]s
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 69
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 23
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
|-
| Moderate Democrats
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 84
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 10
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 20
|-
| Liberal Democrats
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 89
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 5
| style="text-align:right;" | 4
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 13
|-
! colspan=6|Gender and marital status
|-
| Married men
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 40
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 48
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 32
|-
| Married women
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 43
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 33
|-
| Unmarried men
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 49
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 36
| style="text-align:right;" | 12
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 15
|-
| Unmarried women
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 62
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 28
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 20
|-
! colspan=5|Race
|-
| [[White American|White]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 43
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 46
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 83
|-
| [[African American|Black]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 84
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 11
| style="text-align:right;" | 4
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 72
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 21
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
|-
| [[Asian American|Asian]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 43
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 48
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
|-
! colspan=6|Religion
|-
| [[Protestantism|Protestant]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 41
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 50
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 38
|-
| [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholic]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 53
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 37
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 29
|-
| Other [[Christians|Christian]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 45
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 41
| style="text-align:right;" | 12
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 16
|-
| [[American Jews|Jewish]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 78
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 16
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
|-
| Other
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 60
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 23
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
|-
| [[Irreligion|None]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 59
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 23
| style="text-align:right;" | 13
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
|-
! colspan=6|White Religious Right
|-
| [[Christian right|White Religious Right]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 26
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 65
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 17
|-
| Everyone else
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 54
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 35
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 83
|-
! colspan=6|Age
|-
| 18–29 years old
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 53
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 34
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 16
|-
| 30–44 years old
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 41
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 33
|-
| 45–59 years old
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 41
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 26
|-
| 60 and older
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 44
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 25
|-
! colspan=6|First time voters
|-
| First time voter
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 54
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 34
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
|-
| Everyone else
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 42
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 91
|-
! colspan=6|Sexual orientation
|-
| [[LGBT|Gay, lesbian, or bisexual]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 66
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 23
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 4
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
|-
| [[Heterosexuality|Heterosexual]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 47
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;"| 43
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 95
|-
! colspan=6|Education
|-
| Not a [[Secondary education in the United States|high school]] graduate
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 59
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 28
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
|-
| High school graduate
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 51
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 35
| style="text-align:right;" | 13
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 24
|-
| Some [[Higher education in the United States|college]] education
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 40
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 27
|-
| College graduate
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 44
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 46
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 26
|-
| [[Postgraduate education]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 52
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 40
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 17
|-
! colspan=6|Family income
|-
| Under $15,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 59
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 28
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
|-
| $15,000–30,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 51
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 38
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 23
|-
| $30,000–50,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 40
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 27
|-
| $50,000–75,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 47
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 45
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 21
|-
| $75,000–100,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 44
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 48
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
|-
| Over $100,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#f0f0ff;"| 38
| style="text-align:right; background:#ffb6b6;"| 54
| style="text-align:right;" | 6
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
|-
! colspan=6|Region
|-
| [[Eastern United States|East]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 55
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 34
| style="text-align:right;" | 9
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 23
|-
| [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 41
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 26
|-
| [[Southern United States|South]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#d0c0d7;"| 46
| style="text-align:right; background:#d0c0d7;"| 46
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 30
|-
| [[Western United States|West]]
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 48
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 40
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 4
| style="text-align:right;" | 20
|-
! colspan=6|Community size
|-
| Population over 500,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 68
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 25
| style="text-align:right;" | 5
| style="text-align:right;" | 2
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
|-
| Population 50,000 to 500,000
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 50
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 39
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 21
|-
| Suburbs
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 47
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 42
| style="text-align:right;" | 8
| style="text-align:right;" | 3
| style="text-align:right;" | 39
|-
| Rural areas, towns
| style="text-align:right; background:#b0ceff;"| 45
| style="text-align:right; background:#fff3f3;" | 44
| style="text-align:right;" | 10
| style="text-align:right;" | 1
| style="text-align:right;" | 30
|}
'''Source:''' Voter News Service exit poll, reported in ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 10, 1996, 28.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/10/us/portrait-of-the-electorate.html|work=New York Times|title=Portrait of the Electorate|first=Marjorie|last=Connelly|date=November 10, 1996}}</ref>

==Polling controversy==
The polling in the election was criticized by [[Everett Carll Ladd]], who argued that "polls had overestimated Clinton's lead during the campaign and had thereby dampened interest in the election."<ref name=lkmbv>{{Cite journal | last1 = Mitofsky | first1 = W. J. | title = Review: Was 1996 a Worse Year for Polls Than 1948? | journal = The Public Opinion Quarterly | volume = 62 | issue = 2 | pages = 230–249 | doi = 10.1086/297842 | year = 1998 }}</ref> Others such as [[Warren J. Mitofsky]] rebutted Ladd's view; in an analysis in ''[[Public Opinion Quarterly]]'', Mitofsky wrote that "1996 was not the best but was far from the worst year for the polls", with accuracy surpassing the polling in [[1948 United States presidential election|1948]] and in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]].<ref name=lkmbv /> Because Clinton won the election by a comfortable margin, there was no major reaction towards the impreciseness of the polls.<ref name=lkmbv />

==See also==
* [[List of presidents of the United States]]
* [[Second inauguration of Bill Clinton]]
* [[Newspaper endorsements in the 1996 United States presidential election]]
* [[1996 United States gubernatorial elections]]
* [[1996 United States House of Representatives elections]]
* [[1996 United States Senate elections]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==

===Books===
* {{cite book| first=James W.| last=Ceaser|author2=Andrew E. Busch | year=1997| title=Losing to Win: The 1996 Elections and American Politics| isbn=0-8476-8405-9}}
* {{cite book| first=Bill| last=Clinton| year=2005| title=My Life| url=https://archive.org/details/mylifepresidenti00clin| url-access=registration| publisher=Vintage| isbn=1-4000-3003-X}}
* {{cite book |last=Dole |first=Bob and Jack Kemp |title=Trusting the People: The Dole-Kemp Plan to Free the Economy and Create a Better America |year=1996 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=0-06-101153-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/trustingpeopledo00dole }}
* {{cite book| first=John C.| last=Green| year=1999| title=Financing the 1996 Election| isbn=0-585-26014-1}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Moreland |editor1-first=Laurence W. |editor2-last=Steed |editor2-first=Robert P. |title=The 1996 Presidential Election in the South: Southern Party Systems in the 1990s |year=1997 |isbn=0-275-95951-1}}
* {{cite book| first=Gerald M.| last=Pomper| year=1997| title=The Election of 1996: Reports and Interpretations| isbn=0-585-22457-9|display-authors=etal}}
* {{cite book| first=James L.| last=Srodes|author2=Arthur Jones | year=1996| title=Campaign 1996: Who's Who in the Race for the White House| isbn=978-006100993-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Woodward |first=Bob |author-link=Bob Woodward |title=The Choice |year=1996 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-068481308-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/choice00wood }}

===Journals===
* Immelman, Aubrey. "The political personalities of 1996 US presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Bob Dole." ''Leadership Quarterly'' 9.3 (1998): 335–366. [http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=psychology_pubs online]
* {{cite journal | first = Ted G.| last = Jelen |author2=Marthe Chandler  | title=Culture Wars in the Trenches: Social Issues as Short-Term Forces in Presidential Elections, 1968–1996 | journal=The American Review of Politics | year=2000 | volume=21 | pages=69–87 }}

===Web references===
* {{cite web| url=http://www.lp.org/organization/history.shtml| title=Libertarian Party Historical Overview| access-date=January 25, 2006| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060130133301/http://www.lp.org/organization/history.shtml| archive-date=January 30, 2006| df=mdy-all}}
* {{cite web| url=http://clintondole.tumblr.com| title=Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '96| access-date=December 21, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064636/http://clintondole.tumblr.com/| archive-date=March 4, 2016| url-status=dead}}

==External links==
; Campaign websites
* [http://www.4president.us/websites/1996/clintongore1996website.htm Clinton-Gore 1996 website screen shots] <!--Checked https://web.archive.org/web/19961226213629/http://www.cg96.org but it seems like the content was never archived! :( -->
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961106041459/http://www.dole96.com:80/main.html|title=Dole-Kemp Page}} (as of 1996)
** [http://www.dolekemp96.org/main.htm Dole-Kemp 1996 website] (still active as of February 2021)

; Other links
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120113214142/http://electionwall.org/1996.php The Election Wall's 1996 Election Video Page]
* [http://geoelections.free.fr/USA/elec_comtes/1996.htm 1996 popular vote by counties]
* [http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/u/usa/pres/1996.txt 1996 popular vote by states]
* [http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=1996&fips=0&f=1&off=0&elect=0 1996 popular vote by states (with bar graphs)]
* [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/campaign.96/index2.html CNN: 1996 Presidential Campaign Ads]
* [http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/summ.htm Popular vote data from the Federal Election Commission]
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961222031352/http://www.mtv.com:80/chooseorlose/|title=Choose or Lose}} – [[MTV]] pages on the election
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404182613/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1996/ |date=April 04, 2016 |title=Election of 1996 in Counting the Votes}}
*Documentary about the 1996 Vice Presidential Candidates, [https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-f18sb3z07s "Running Mate,"] 1996-10-01, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the [[University of Georgia]], [[American Archive of Public Broadcasting]]

{{1996 United States presidential election}}
{{State results of the 1996 U.S. presidential election}}
{{1996 United States elections}}
{{United States presidential elections}}
{{US Third Party Election}}
{{Bill Clinton}}
{{Al Gore}}
{{Authority control}}

[[:Category:1996 United States presidential election| ]]
[[:Category:Presidency of Bill Clinton|United States]]
[[:Category:Bill Clinton]]
[[:Category:Al Gore]]
[[:Category:Ross Perot]]
[[:Category:Bob Dole]]
[[:Category:November 1996 events in the United States]]
[[:Category:Foreign electoral intervention]]
[[:Category:Jack Kemp]]