The re-election for first-year undergraduate Student Senate took place on Monday and Tuesday, officially ended at 12 a.m. on Wednesday. Candidates said they are glad the controversy is behind them.

Student Government reheld the elections because T. Greg Doucette, one of the technical administrators for the election and a junior in computer science, mistakenly left Kristy Craig, a freshman in political science, off the ballot.

The re-election did not go off without some controversy of its own, however.

According to Doucette, Brogan Marshall, a freshman in mechanical engineering, almost appealed the results accidentally after she lost the final seat by a single vote.

“She didn’t realize what all she was doing,” Doucette said. “She didn’t want to call for a runoff even though that was her option, and she didn’t know what else she could do.”

After she realized her appeal would call for another re-election, Marshall decided to accept defeat, according to Doucette.

“She was specifically trying to avoid another election,” he said. Four-hundred and sixty one people voted in the re-election — 7.2 percent of the eligible voters from the freshman class. Of the 11 candidates awarded Senate seats as a result of the election, nine were members of the Freshman Senate Team, a group of candidates who organized their campaign together.

The members of the group asked students to vote for all nine candidates in the election, and those candidates secured the top nine spots.

While the newly elected Senators said they were excited about serving the student body, they also said they were happy to leave the controversy surrounding the election behind them.

“I was very relieved to know that I secured a spot in the re-election,” Craig said. “I didn’t want to have to recampaign.”

Tim Trickel, a freshman in engineering, said he was glad to be done with the ordeal.

“It feels better now that it’s finally over with, so I don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Trickel said. “My campaign took a lot of time and energy and was very stressful.”

Others, such as Scott Lassiter, a freshman in political science, were worried the incident would tarnish SG’s reputation with the students.

“Having to redo the election made everyone nervous,” Lassiter said. “I hope it doesn’t influence students and make them think that Student Government is not organized.”

The candidates put in long hours campaigning, and while some teamed up, others such as Allison Graham, freshman in political science, took matters into her own hands. Graham was one of the two senators elected who was not a part of the Freshman Senate Team.

“I campaigned up until midnight last night,” Graham said. “It was a very competitive campaign, and everyone worked very hard.”

The newly elected Senators said they are ready to get to work, and that they are excited about the year ahead.

“After all the difficulties, it’s good to know it’s over,” Shanna Rose, freshman in political science, said. “I know we’re all very excited to start working to improve NCSU.”