Delay in declaration of final turnout due to multiple scrutiny: Delhi Chief Electoral Officer

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer, Dr. Ranbir Singh, briefing the media clearly attributed the delay in declaring the final voter turnout in the just concluded Delhi Assembly polls to the problem of 'collation'. He said the commission took some time to collate the figures and this resulted in the delay in official declaration. The returning officers were busy with scrutiny of data throughout the night to ensure its accuracy, said Singh.

"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.

Adding further, he said that the final voter turnout was 62.5, which is two per cent higher than the Lok Sabha polls. The turnout in Lok Sabha elections was at 60.56 per cent. Ballimaran saw the highest turnout with 71.6 per cent and Delhi Cantonment witnessed the lowest turnout at 45.4 per cent.


Earlier today, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said it was "absolutely shocking" that the Election Commission has not released the final voter turnout of assembly polls held on Saturday.

Voting in Delhi took place yesterday for the 70-member legislative assembly. Most exit polls have predicted an easy win for Aam Aadmi Party. The results will be announced on February 11.

The poll percentage was 67.12 per cent in the 2015 election when the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party had secured a landslide victory by winning 67 seats.

"Absolutely shocking. What is EC doing? Why are they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling?" Mr Kejriwal tweeted, while his party alleged voter fraud by tampering the Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs.