In February 1996, New Hampshire held its first-in-the-nation presidential primaries. The Libertarian Party held its second ever New Hampshire presidential primary, and the first to be contested, although the primary was a preference primary with no bearing on delegate selection.
Of 304,904 ballots cast in the primaries, 1,642 (0.5%) were cast in the Libertarian primary, a voter turnout of about 47% of registered Libertarians. The final results were:
| Candidate | #Votes | %Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Browne | 661 | 40.3% |
| Other | 359 | 21.8% |
| Irwin Schiff | 343 | 20.9% |
| Pat Buchanan | 176 | 10.7% |
| Steve Forbes | 103 | 6.3% |
| Total | 1,642 | 100% |
Browne and Schiff were the only candidates to register for the Libertarian primary. Buchanan, Forbes and "Other" were write-ins. Write-ins were counted only if they were registered in another party's primary.
In other parties' primaries, populist Pat Buchanan won the Republican Party primary, and incumbent Bill Clinton overwhelmingly won the Democratic Party primary.
