Millions of Christians in the United States have indicated that they will not vote in the upcoming presidential election, according to a study released by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.

Many of the people interviewed for the study (79%) identify as “people of faith,” meaning they consider themselves part of the Christian, Jewish, Mormon, or Islamic faiths. Only slightly more than one-half (51%) of this demographic said they are likely to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Of those who hold to a faith, 104 million are unlikely to vote in November. Of these, 32 million people are self-identified Christians who regularly attend church services.

“The surveys also revealed that large numbers of Christian churches have distanced themselves from the election, refusing to even encourage congregants to vote and avoiding teaching related to many of the key social issues that will determine which candidates people will support,” the study explains.

A significant number of Christians who define their faith as believing in sin, salvation, and being born again are not planning to vote (41 million). Another fourteen million Christians who are of voting age and attend an evangelical church are also not expected to vote. According to the study, 46 million adults to attend Protestant churches and 19 million who attend Catholic churches are not planning to vote in the presidential election.

Explaining the reason behind their decision not to vote, 68% said they are simply uninterested in policies. The second-greatest reason not to vote (57%) was a dislike of all major candidates. Half of those not expecting to cast their vote said it was because elections have become too controversial.

Many self-identified Christians (42%) reported a desire for their church to maintain the same level of political involvement as in years past. More than a quarter of Christian churchgoers (27%) would prefer their church to be less politically involved.

Pastors have the greatest influence on congregations to become politically motivated, the study explained.

“Pastors often seek opportunities to have a positive influence in people’s lives and upon the culture, and to help the community in which their church is located,” researcher George Barna said. “This research underscores the fact that simply encouraging people to vote in order to fulfill their biblical responsibility would not only be seen as doing their job while helping the community, but an estimated five million regular churchgoers would be likely to vote as a result of that simple exhortation. That, in itself, could change the outcome of the election by simply doing their job and getting congregants to fulfill one of their chief duties as an American citizen.”