RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina had already surpassed its early voting record set in 2020, but the state Board of Elections announced Sunday that more than 4.2 million voters cast ballots at early in-person voting sites voted, with turnout in western counties. Hurricane Helene hit, outpacing the rest of the state.

Early in-person voting, which ended Saturday, has grown in popularity across multiple election cycles in the presidential election-fighting state. People can register to vote and vote at early voting sites at the same time.

Four years ago, a record 3.63 million people voted at hundreds of locations in all 100 counties during the early voting period. This year the state exceeded that total by Thursdaydays before the end of the period, the board said.

Including absentee ballots, 4,465,548 voters — or 57% of the state's 7.8 million registered voters — cast their ballots in the general election as of Sunday morning, officials said, noting that turnout was lower due to a lag between the time of voting and could be slightly higher at the time of voting. Data is uploaded.

Voter turnout in the 25 western counties affected by Hurricane Helene was higher than the rest of the state at 58.9% — about 2% higher than the statewide turnout, officials said.

“I am proud of all of our 100 county boards of elections and the thousands of poll workers who make this possible in their communities,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state board, said in a statement. “And I’m especially proud of the workers and voters of Western North Carolina. You are an inspiration to us all.”

Strong early voter turnout this year is partly a response to a push by state and national Republicans to encourage people to vote early. Her message represents a sharp contrast to the 2020 election, when former President Donald Trump said — without evidence to support that claim — that mail-in voting was rife with fraud.

In addition to the president, North Carolinians will elect a new governor, a new attorney general and several other statewide positions, as well as members of the state's U.S. House of Representatives and General Assembly.