Municipal elections were held in Finland on 20 October 1996. The election had to be renewed in Keminmaa on 8 June because of uncertainties with advance voting.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party | 583,562 | 24.55 | 2,743 | –387 | |
| Centre Party | 518,305 | 21.81 | 4,459 | +461 | |
| National Coalition Party | 514,313 | 21.64 | 2,167 | +158 | |
| Left Alliance | 246,412 | 10.37 | 1,128 | –191 | |
| Green League | 149,334 | 6.28 | 292 | –51 | |
| Swedish People's Party | 129,518 | 5.45 | 671 | +7 | |
| Finnish Christian League | 75,494 | 3.18 | 353 | 0 | |
| Young Finns | 31,429 | 1.32 | 29 | New | |
| Finns Party | 21,999 | 0.93 | 138 | –216 | |
| Liberal People's Party | 8,766 | 0.37 | 25 | –24 | |
| Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism | 4,483 | 0.19 | 3 | +2 | |
| Pensioners' Party | 2,417 | 0.10 | 1 | –1 | |
| Seniors' Party | 2,033 | 0.09 | 2 | –3 | |
| Alliance for Free Finland | 1,364 | 0.06 | 6 | New | |
| Natural Law Party | 1,217 | 0.05 | 0 | New | |
| Ecological Party the Greens | 874 | 0.04 | 1 | –2 | |
| Others | 85,420 | 3.59 | 464 | +123 | |
| Total | 2,376,940 | 100.00 | 12,482 | –89 | |
| Source: Tilastokeskus[1] | |||||
