General elections were held in Palau in 1996 to elect a President, Vice-President, Senate and House of Delegates. The first round of the presidential election took place on 24 September, whilst the run-off election and the election for the House of Delegates and Senate took place on 5 November. All candidates ran as independents,[1] with 36 candidates contesting the 14 Senate seats and 35 for the 16 House of Delegates seats Incumbent Kuniwo Nakamura was re-elected President, whilst Thomas Remengesau Jr. was re-elected Vice-President. Voter turnout was 77.0% in the presidential elections on 24 September and 81.4% on 5 November.
Toribiong withdrew his candidacy prior to the second round following his poor performance compared to 1992 and the collapse of the Koror-Babeldaob Bridge, which Toribiong stated should receive the government's full attention.[2]