Delhi recorded 62.59 per cent voter turnout in Assembly elections: CEO

Addressing a press conference, the Chief Electoral Officer said that the voter turnout in Delhi was 62.59 per cent. It is about 2 per cent more than the last Lok Sabha elections. The highest voter turnout was recorded in Ballimaran assembly constituency at 71.6 per cent while the lowest voter turnout was recorded in Delhi Cantonment at 45.4 per cent. He further ruled out any delay in announcing the final voter turnout figure.

New Delhi: Voter turnout in Delhi Assembly elections was 62. 95 per cent, according to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh on Sunday.

"The voter turnout in Delhi was 62.59 per cent. It is about 2 per cent more than the last Lok Sabha elections. It is, however, less than the turnout in the last Assembly polls held in 2015," Singh said at a press conference here.

The Delhi CEO added that "the highest voter turnout was recorded in Ballimaran assembly constituency at 71.6 per cent while the lowest voter turnout was recorded in Delhi Cantonment at 45.4 per cent."

As Delhi elections concluded on Saturday evening, the exit polls predicted that AAP will win a two-thirds majority with some giving it a three-fourth majority in the 70-member assembly. They predicted that Congress will continue its dismal show in the national capital.

CEO RULES OUT DELAY

Ranbir Singh also said there was no unusual delay in announcing the final voter turnout figure as the returning officers were busy with the scrutiny of data throughout the night to ensure its accuracy.

Singh tried to ally all the fears as expressed by a section of political parties over delay in releasing the final voting figures for the Delhi assembly elections held on Saturday, saying "they did not want to speculate and wanted to give exact figures".

"So, returning officers worked throughout the night to check data to ensure it is accurate," Singh said while asserting that the delay was not unusual rather it was done in a good time.

He said there were more than 13,700 polling stations in the national capital and they had to add data from each station and ensure that every vote is accounted for.

It is not matter of late or early as soon as the voting per cent was finalised, it was shared with the public, he said.

Singh's remarks came after Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal questioned the "delay" by the Election Commissioner in giving the final voter turnout figure for the assembly polls, and said it was suspicious and asked if the poll panel was waiting for BJP office's nod.

(With inputs from agencies).