The COVID-19 pandemic, so far, has had some lasting effects on how people cast ballots in the U.S.

According to a new report from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, mail voting rates in the U.S. "remained higher than pre-pandemic levels" during last year's midterm elections, when more than 35 million mail ballots were cast and counted.

It's been an open question as to whether the pandemic would have any long-term impact on how people vote in the U.S. Ahead of the 2020 election, many states opened up their vote by mail programs to more voters and officials also created more early voting options. And many voters took advantage of those options.