1996 Taiwanese presidential election
23 March 1996
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| Registered | 14,313,288 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 76.04% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 23 March 1996. It was Taiwan's first direct presidential election, officially the Republic of China. In the previous eight elections, the president and vice president had been chosen in a ballot of the deputies of the National Assembly, in accordance with the 1947 constitution. These were the first free and direct elections in the history of Taiwan.
Lee Teng-hui was re-elected President, and Lien Chan as Vice President. Lee stood as the candidate for the ruling Kuomintang. He won a majority of 54% of the votes cast. His election followed missile tests by the People's Republic of China (PRC). These attempted to intimidate and discourage the Taiwanese electorate from supporting Lee; however, the tactic backfired. Voter turnout was 76.0%.