As of 11:03 p.m. on election night, 6,366 ballots had been received for the Student Government elections, according to vote.ncsu.edu.

Last year, a total of 7,027 ballots were received during the 24-hour voting period, and with around an hour left for this year’s voting, Student Senate President Greg Doucette said totals would be lower this year.

“It’ll be less than last year,” Doucette said. “But about in line with two years ago.”

Doucette said the lower turnout was probably due to a lack of controversies during the campaign season.

“[When the Pirate Captain ran, he] was very contentious,” Doucette said. “That was when we had the all-time [best] turnout.”

Doucette said the lack of conflict in SG could have led to voter apathy.

“This year everyone in Student Government has gotten along,” he said. “There [have been] no real controvers[ies] to get people to the poll[s].”

Doucette also said the lower turnout could have been due to a change in the candidates’ mindsets.

“There have been past student elections when there was a focus on big grassroots campaigns,” he said. “Those usually work best when there’s a real serious crisis going on.”

Doucette said candidates have changed their campaign tactics in recent years.

“Over the past year or two, you’ve seen more of a transition to interpersonal communication,” Doucette said. “It’s more informing student groups than a call to action. There’s less focus on a mass rally or try[ing] to build a movement.”

Student Body President Jay Dawkins said election day wasn’t the same as past years.

“Walking on campus today it didn’t feel like an election day,” Dawkins said. “There wasn’t a whole lot going on.”

While Dawkins said he didn’t notice a final push for votes on election day, he lamented that it wasn’t necessarily all negative.

“Most candidates didn’t put up many new flyers,” Dawkins said. “But, that’s probably a good thing because somebody has to clean those things up.”

Elections Commissions Chair Andrew Tucker said academics also may have gotten in the way of this year’s final days of campaigning.

“There’s a lot more exams this week than last year,” Tucker said. “A lot of people had school obligations this week and that wasn’t the case last year.”

Still, Tucker said the number of candidates could have also influenced voter turnout.

“There were less contestants and more people that were passionate about specific camps,” Tucker said. “It was a little more visible than it was last year.”