Absentee voting for the Nov. 8 Presidential Election began throughout Virginia on Friday; with Election Day still five weeks away, local election officials are reporting a brisk start in the number of absentee votes already cast.

According to Gloucester voter registrar Bobbi Morgan, her office had received 345 absentee votes as of Monday afternoon, just a day and a half after the start of absentee voting. Of those, she said 254 were mailed in; 73 were military and overseas e-mailed ballots and 18 people had come in to vote absentee.

Also, as of Monday afternoon, Mathews voter registrar Carla Faulkner reported that 107 people had voted absentee in that county, including mailed in and in-person ballots. She said this represents about 1.5 percent of registered voters in the county.

Voter registrars are also encouraging voters to be ready to cast their ballots Nov. 8 and remain vigilant for any scams or misleading information that may come their way. 

Oct. 17 is the last day to ge...