A combination of no time off from work or school or being “too busy” was the reason given most often by people for not voting in the 1996 presidential election, according to a Census Bureau survey taken shortly after the 1996 balloting.

The survey also shows that a little over half of the respondents (54 percent) reported going to the polls in 1996 — a 34-year low for a presidential election year.¹ The highest turnout during that period was 69 percent in 1964.

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¹ The reported voter turnout using Current Population Survey (CPS) data is higher than the official turnout of 50 percent as recorded by the Clerk of the U.S. House. The CPS results routinely overestimate turnout in presidential elections by 5-to-12 percent, due to factors such as nonvoters reporting they did vote because they want to show they are civically responsible and respondents misreporting for others in their household.

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Voting and Registration Publications

Current Population Survey Publications

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