1996 Schleswig-Holstein state election

The 1996 Schleswig-Holstein state election was held on 24 March 1996 to elect the members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein. The incumbent Social Democratic Party (SPD) government led by Minister-President Heide Simonis lost its majority. The SPD subsequently formed a coalition with The Greens, and Simonis continued in office.

Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein.

Election result
! colspan="2" | Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % ! colspan=8| ! align=right colspan=2| Total ! align=right| 1,502,088 ! align=right| 100.0 ! align=right| ! align=right| 75 ! align=right| 14 ! align=right| ! align=right colspan=2| Voter turnout ! align=right| ! align=right| 71.8 ! align=right| 0.1 ! align=right| ! align=right| ! align=right|
 * colspan=8| 1996 Schleswig Hostein state election - composition chart.svg
 * colspan=8| 1996 Schleswig Hostein state election - composition chart.svg
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left | Social Democratic Party (SPD)
 * align=right| 597,751
 * align=right| 39.8
 * align=right| 6.4
 * align=right| 33
 * align=right| 12
 * align=right| 44.0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left | Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
 * align=right| 559,107
 * align=right| 37.2
 * align=right| 3.4
 * align=right| 30
 * align=right| 2
 * align=right| 40.0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
 * align=right| 121,939
 * align=right| 8.1
 * align=right| 3.1
 * align=right| 6
 * align=right| 6
 * align=right| 8.0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left | Free Democratic Party (FDP)
 * align=right| 86,227
 * align=right| 5.7
 * align=right| 0.1
 * align=right| 4
 * align=right| 1
 * align=right| 5.3
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left | South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW)
 * align=right| 38,285
 * align=right| 2.5
 * align=right| 0.6
 * align=right| 2
 * align=right| 1
 * align=right| 2.7
 * align=right| 2.5
 * align=right| 0.6
 * align=right| 2
 * align=right| 1
 * align=right| 2.7
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left | German People's Union (DVU)
 * align=right| 64,335
 * align=right| 4.3
 * align=right| 2.0
 * align=right| 0
 * align=right| 6
 * align=right| 0
 * align=left | Voters' Community of Schleswig-Holstein (WSH)
 * align=right| 28,206
 * align=right| 1.9
 * align=right| 1.9
 * align=right| 0
 * align=right| ±0
 * align=right| 0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left | Others
 * align=right| 6,238
 * align=right| 0.4
 * align=right|
 * align=right| 0
 * align=right| ±0
 * align=right| 0
 * align=right|
 * align=right| 0
 * align=right| ±0
 * align=right| 0
 * }