The highest ever voter turnout of over 65 percent was recorded in the elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly today. Polling was extended in some constituencies beyond the scheduled polling hour to enable those who were at standing at the queue at 5 pm to vote.

Disclosing this, Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi Vijay Dev said this evening that the polling was peaceful and incident-free. He said it was heavy voting and the final figures are being compiled.

Dev said, the last highest voting of 62 percent was recorded in 1993 when Delhi elected its first Assembly.

Polling started on a dull note today but picked up later to finsh with heavy polling. 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.

About 1.2 crore voters including over 4 lakh first timers, were eligible to exercise their franchise at 11,763 polling booths.

Record voter turnout is attributable to constant efforts made by Delhi Chief Electoral Officer. None of the Above Option or NOTA on voting machines may have also contributed to increased percentage of votes.

For conduct of free and fair elections, the Election Commission arranged webcasting in 630 hyper sensitive polling booths. Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, which enables voters to verify if their vote has been recorded correctly, was introduced for the first time on a pilot basis in New Delhi constituency.

Aam Aadmi Party seems to have emerged as a major force in the election in the National Capital which used to be a political battleground for two major political parties – Congress and BJP.