Below is the list of tables from the database along with their columns and datatype. Need to generate an accurate SQL query for the question.
Only use the columns present in the respective table. Only use the columns which are required to generate the SQL query. Only use table joins if required and not otherwise.

### Tables ###
TABLE: CREATE TABLE table_44645 ( "Election" real, "Number of PNC votes" text, "Share of votes" text, "Seats" text, "Outcome of election" text )

### Question ###
How many PNC votes did the election before 1996 have?

### Accurate SQL ###

SELECT "Number of PNC votes" FROM table_44645 WHERE "Election" < '1996'