Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to reflect the correct number of eiligble voters left out of March 29’s election. The Technician originally reported an estimated 6,500 voters not included, but the confirmed number is 2,192 voters.

In a campus of over 30,000 fee-paying students, at least 2,192 eligible students were unable to vote in last week’s Student Government elections due to a mistake in the request for the voter list.

The Student Government General Enfranchisement statute revised in the 2005 Student Election Act states ”All students who have paid, or had paid on their behalf, full fees, including pro-rated full fees, supporting Student Government shall be enfranchised and entitled to vote.”

According to Mike Giancola, director of the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service, this statute in essence means that everyone except those students only enrolled in Distance Education courses are allowed to vote in the elections.

“The only people not eligible to vote are those who do not pay any of the Student Government fees,” Giancola said. “This means that really the only people who can’t vote are those who only take Distance Education classes because they pay only the Education Technology fee, not the Student Goverment fee.”

Unfortunately, the small number of students on campus who are ineligible to vote weren’t the only ones left out. Eileen Coombes, assistant director of Student Government, who requested the voter roll, said it was a small mistake that has led to this confusion.

“What happened was that the wrong voter roll was pulled for use in the election. When the request was made, I asked for the list of ’full-time’ eligible voters,” Coombes said. ”We know now how to clarify our request [for the voter roll]. It’s an easy fix, but it was also an easy mistake.”

According to Coombes, had someone not pointed out the strange voting numbers, the mistake may have gone unnoticed, particularly since no statistics are provided in the voter roll to confirm the number of students on the list.

“The voter roll comes to us in a document, but there is nothing in the roll that says how many students are on the list, so we typically don’t question the numbers—until we were tipped off today about them,” Coombes said. “We actually don’t see the numbers until they are put online. Unless we counted all 30,000 students, we don’t have a way of knowing exactly how many are on the list until after the elections.”

In order to ensure all eligible students are given the opportunity to cast their vote in this election, an extra election will be held this Thursday for all part-time students, according to Lindsey Pullum, senior in political science and Student Government Elections Commission chair.

“Part-time students will have one full day to vote in this year’s Student Government elections, where they will have the opportunity to vote for all of the candidates, and those senate candidates in their majors,” Pullum said. “The votes from that entire day will be merged with last Tuesday’s tabulations and we will recertify the votes.”

The election will be online at vote.ncsu.edu for these students

However,  this extra election will not be another chance for full-time students to cast their votes, and only part-time students should expect to be able to access the voting system that day.

“The supplemental elections that will be held Thursday will be only for part-time students unable to vote last Tuesday,” Giancola said. “If you are a full-time student who had the opportunity to vote last week and didn’t, you won’t be able to vote this time.”

Something that will also be different from last week’s election day is candidates are not allowed to spend any money on their campaigns for this election day, according to an email sent to all candidates from the Elections Commission.

“You will not be allowed to spend any money toward this election,” the email said. ”You can still send messages, emails, updates, etc. to make raise awareness of this new issue, but no signs, banners, etc. should be purchased. ”

While most positions had a clear majority, the Student Body Treasurer position was won by 136 votes. To Coombes, this extra election day will serve to be sure all students were given a chance to vote, and that the candidates are elected fair and square.

“We firmly believe every student should have a voice in the [voting] process. We are doing what we can to remedy this situation and be sure the correct people are put in office,” Coombes said.

Pullumsaid while she acknowledges the extra work put on both students, candidates and the Commission alike, she said she believes it is the best solution to an unfortunate situation.

“We understand it’s inconvenient, but the Election Commission is fair, ethical and leads with integrity. This is the only proper way to stand up for our mission and for the University,” Pullum said. “I hope when people make their judgments about this they keep that in mind, that we’re trying to do what is best for all students.”