| Year: | 1996 |
| Party: | Libertarian |
| Date: | July 5–8, 1996 |
| City: | Washington, DC |
| Presidential Nominee: | Harry Browne |
| Presidential Nominee State: | Tennessee |
| Vice Presidential Nominee: | Jo Jorgensen |
| Vice Presidential Nominee State: | South Carolina |
| Previous Year: | 1993 |
| Next Year: | 2000 |
The 1996 Libertarian National Convention was held in at the Hyatt Regency-Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, DC, during the first weekend in July. Harry Browne was chosen as the party's nominee for president in the 1996 election.
"Declare your Independence" was the theme of the convention.
Libertarians hold a national convention, every two years to vote on party bylaws, platform and resolutions and elect national party officers and a judicial committee. Every four years it nominates presidential and vice presidential candidates.[1]
Some non-binding primary contests were held in some states:
| Legend: | 1st place (popular vote) | 2nd place (popular vote) | 3rd place (popular vote) | Candidate unable to appear on ballot |
|---|
| Date | Contest | Candidates and results | Total votes cast | Ref | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harry Browne | RT Rick Tompkins | IS Irwin Schiff | DO Doug Ohmen | Other/Uncommitted | |||||
| February 20 | New Hampshire | 40.1% | Unknown | 20.7% | Unknown | 39.2% | [2] | ||
| February 27 | North Dakota | 100% | Not on ballot | ||||||
| South Dakota | 63.1% | Not on ballot | 36.9% | Not on ballot | |||||
| March 5 | Massachusetts | 44.4% | 12.8% | 7.6% | Unknown | 35.3% | [3] | ||
| March 19 | Illinois | 73.9% | Not on ballot | 26.1% | Not on ballot | [4] [5] | |||
| March 26 | California | 49.8% | 23.6% | 15.3% | 10.5% | 0.9% | |||
| May 14 | Nebraska | 100% | Not on ballot | ||||||
| Totals votes earned | 51.7% | 17.9% | 16.9% | 7.7% | 5.8% | ||||
| Convention ballot | 69.1% | 12.3% | 5.3% | 3.3% | 10.0% | ||||
Harry Browne was nominated on the first ballot, gathering a majority of the voting delegates and defeating Rick Tompkins, Irwin Schiff and Doug Ohmen.[6]
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Browne | 416 | 69.1% | |||||||||||
| Rick Tompkins | 74 | 12.3% | |||||||||||
| 60 | 10.0% | ||||||||||||
| 32 | 5.3% | ||||||||||||
| Doug Ohmen | 20 | 3.3% | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
The convention voted to suspend the rules and allow a voice vote for the vice presidential nomination. After an initial voice vote led to a roll-call vote, Jo Jorgensen easily prevailed against no opposition, with 36 votes going to None of the Above.[7]
| Candidate | Total votes cast | Percent of votes cast | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jo Jorgensen | 459 | 92.7% | ||||||||
| 36 | 7.3% | |||||||||
| ||||||||||