Only one week remains for people who wish to vote absentee in the Republican presidential primary to apply to do so.

People can qualify under several different categories in order to vote absentee. The most common ones include people who are away from town on Election Day because of business or vacation; members of the military and their spouses; college students; people working and commuting to and from work from 11 or more hours of the 13 that the polls are open; people who cannot get to the polls because they are ill, disabled or pregnant; and other such exemptions.

People who choose to cast an absentee ballot by mail for the March 6 primary must submit an application by Feb. 28. Completed applications can be submitted in person, by mail, fax or scanned email attachment to the voter registrar’s office until 5 p.m. that day.

Voters who wish to vote absentee in person may do so at the voter registrar’s office during normal business hours. The deadline to vote absentee in person is March 3, and registration offices will be open to the public on this day.

Only two of the remaining four presidential candidates will be available for Virginians to choose.

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul will appear on the ballot. All other candidates failed to gather enough verified signatures to have their names on the ballot, and a court challenge was unsuccessful.

For more information on absentee voting, go to www.sbe.virginia.gov or call 1-800-552-9745.