ATLANTA (AP) — Casting mailed ballots remained popular among voters in last year’s presidential election, according to a new report from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

The report also found increases in early in-person voting and the use of ballot-drop boxes.

Analysts say the findings, based on data collected at the local level and submitted by states, illustrate the sustained popularity of alternate voting methods.

“Our election process continues to reflect the expectations voters have about where, when and how to vote,” said David Levine, a former county election official in Idaho who is now a senior fellow at the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. “Once voters try voting before Election Day, they often continue to do so for future elections.”

Overall, more than 158 million ballots were counted for the November 2024 presidential election, according to the report.

Turnout was 3 percentage points lower than in 2020, but nearly 4 percentage points higher than during the 2016 presidential election.

Approximately 30 percent of voters last fall used a mail ballot, a decline from the 43 percent who did so during the pandemic election in 2020, but higher than pre-pandemic elections, when mail ballots typically accounted for about 25 percent of votes cast.

The report noted that four states — Washington, Indiana, South Dakota and Utah — saw higher percentages of mail voting in 2024 than four years earlier.

The report found that during the 2024 presidential election there was a drop in Election Day voting and a corresponding increase in early, in-person voting. Election Day voting declined from 49 percent in 2022 to roughly 37 percent in 2024, when 35 percent used voting early.

South Carolina and Delaware had the largest increases in early, in-person voting compared to four years ago.

Some states have since blocked the use of ballot-drop boxes or reduced their availability, but ballot-drop boxes remain popular in other parts of the country.

The report found drop boxes were in use in 35 states plus the District of Columbia in 2024. Of those, 21 states reported a total of nearly 15 million mail ballots returned with the use of a drop box, accounting for about 45 percent of all mail ballots returned by voters.

Of the states that reported data on ballot-drop boxes for 2022 and 2024, four states reported double-digit increases in the percentage of mail ballots returned at drop boxes:  California, Kansas, Utah and Nevada.