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Lunenburg County Registrar Carolyn Parsons has seen a lot of voters coming into the office since early in-person voting began Friday, Sept. 18.

Parsons said there has been a total of 114 in-person votes cast and 707 mail-in votes as of Tuesday morning Sept. 22.

With No Excuse, Early Voting in place this election year, Parsons said earlier this month her office had seen an uptick in Vote by Mail applications.

Gov. Ralph Northam introduced legislation earlier this year with the goal to increase voter turnout and decrease congestion at the polls on Election Day.

Parsons said the No Excuse, Early Voting is new this year and voters have until Oct 31 to cast their votes.

Voters planning to cast their ballots in person at the Lunenburg County registrar’s office, are asked to wear face coverings although it is not required.

“Mask are requested to be worn, but it will be up to voter to do so,” Parsons said. “We also have signs in place saying to protect yourself and others, masks are suggested.”

Statewide as of the afternoon of Monday, Sept. 22, the Virginia Department of Elections was reporting 36,740 people had voted in person. Mail-in ballot applications were listed at 864,225.

Mail Ballot Applications represent the number of voters who have applied for mail ballots, but have not yet returned them. In 2016, some 77,433 mail ballots were never returned.

In 2016, the Virginia Department of Elections reported 615,843 votes were cast during the November presidential election.

There are currently 5.6 million voters in the commonwealth.

In the 5^th Congressional District, 69,967 voters have cast their ballots as of Monday, Sept. 21.

Voters can take advantage of the 45 days of No Excuse Early Voting in Lunenburg County for in-person early voting at the registrar’s office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as well as the Saturday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. October 31 is the last day of early in-person voting in Virginia.