1996 Transnistrian presidential election

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22 December 1996

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Nominee	Igor Smirnov	Vladimir Malakhov
Party	Independent	Independent
Running mate	Alexandru Caraman	Vasily Protsenko
Percentage	71.94%	19.84%

President before election

Igor Smirnov
Independent

Elected President

Igor Smirnov
Independent

Politics of Transnistria


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v t e

Presidential elections were held in the breakaway republic of Transnistria on 22 December, 1996. They were won by the incumbent Igor Smirnov, who ruled Transnistria since 1991. Smirnov's only opponent was Vladimir Malakhov, who was beaten by Smirnov, 72% to 20%.

On 2 November, it was reported that Transnistria's central electoral commission had registered only two candidates for the election. Six others, including head of the Tiraspol city council Vitalii Glebov, were unable to collect the necessary 10,000 signatures.

Before the election, Malakhov claimed that his campaign was receiving "unequal treatment" from the media. He was considering withdrawing from the race, which would invalidate the election, the constitution requiring at least 2 candidates for the election to be able to occur. However, the Parliament of Transnistria amended the constitution, so that Smirnov could get elected unopposed. Malakhov then decided to continue his campaign. According to an article by the ethnic Russian researcher from Moldova Alla Skvortsova from 2002, "polls and elections in the PMR may to some extent have been rigged".

Results

Summary of the 22 December 1996 Transnistrian presidential election results
Candidate	Vice-pres. candidate	%
Igor Smirnov	Alexandru Caraman	71.94
Vladimir Malakhov	Vasily Protsenko	19.84
None of the above, blank or invalid		8.22
Total (turnout 57.1%)		100.0%
Sources: Olvia Press – Transnistrian press agency Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Open Media Research Institute

According to an article by the ethnic Russian researcher from Moldova Alla Skvortsova from 2002, "polls and elections in the PMR may to some extent have been rigged".

References

(in Russian) Olvia Press: Presidential elections in Transnistria Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest, No. 246, 30 December 1996 Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest, No. 213, Part II, 4 November 1996 Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest, No. 245, 19 Dec 96
Alla Skvortsova, "The Cultural and Social Makeup of Moldova: A Bipolar or Dispersed Society?", in Pal Kolsto (ed.), National Integration and Violent Conflict in Post-Soviet Societies (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.), p. 176.
Alla Skvortsova, "The Cultural and Social Makeup of Moldova: A Bipolar or Dispersed Society?", in Pal Kolsto (ed.), National Integration and Violent Conflict in Post-Soviet Societies (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.), p. 176.

v t e Elections and referendums in Transnistria
Presidential elections	1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021
Parliamentary elections	1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Municipal elections	1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Referendums	1989–90 1991 1995 (Mar) 1995 (Dec) 2003 2006
See also: Elections and referendums in Moldova and in Gagauzia

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