An analysis of 1976 data indicates that nonvoters' images of presidential candidates do not differ drastically from the images expressed by voters. Nonvoters respond to fewer candidates and tend to rate some "outsider" figures more positively and "establishment" figures less positively. With regard to most candidates, however, nonvoters' perceptions resemble those of fellow partisan identifiers more than those of fellow nonvoters. Tests of candidate-related explanations of turnout provide more support for the "indifference" and "other preference" hypotheses than for alienation, but the utility of these explana tions varies across partisan groupings.
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