Brisk polling is reported after a slow start in the elections to the 70 member Delhi Assembly. About 48 per cent voters cast their ballots till 3 P.M. today.

Polling began on a slow note in the morning with only about 4 percent of votes were cast in the first hour from 8 AM and moved on to 17 percent till 11 AM. Later it picked up and reached 30 percent by 12.30 PM.

Vice President Mohd. Hamid Ansari was among the first to cast his vote at the Nirman Bhawan polling booth in New Delhi constituency. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also cast their votes there. Sheila Dikshit is contesting from the New Delhi constituency. Aam Admi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, who is also contesting her also cast his vote. BJP Chief Ministerial candidate Dr. Harshvardhan contesting from Krishnanagar seat in East Delhi cast his vote there.

Voting will come to an end at 5 PM. About 1.2 crore voters including over 4 lakh first timers, are eligible to exercise their franchise at 11,763 polling booths. 630 polling booths have been declared critical and hyper critical. For the first time, the None of the Above, NOTA option is available to voters in the EVMs who do not find any of candidates suitable. The NOTA option will be printed in pink on EVMs.

AIR correspondents covering Delhi polls have reported that 112 Electronic Voting Machines have been replaced in different polling booths following technical snags.