In an era when more and more people worldwide are gaining the right to vote, fewer Americans are taking advantage of their right to cast a ballot. In the November 1990 Congressional elections, 45 percent of persons 18 years old and over reported voting, down 1 percentage point from 4 years earlier. Through there have been fluctuations up and down, the percentage of those voting is now lower than it was 2 decades ago.

This Brief examines differences in voting patterns in the November 1990 elections based on various social and demographic characteristics. It also looks at the overall turnout since the 1960's in non-presidential election years. The data are gathered from supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS) in November of each Congressional election year. Official returns are lower than estimates obtained in the CPS.