Counting of postal ballots underway, first trends to emerge around 9 am for Delhi elections

Counting of postal ballots is underway for the Delhi Assembly election results, according to Sanjeev Kumar, the Returning Officer of Trilokpuri constituency on Tuesday.

Kumar said that out of the total 13 rounds, the first will be completed by 9 am and the first trends will emerge around 10 am.

"There are total of 13 rounds of counting. Right now, postal ballots are being counted. The first round of counting will be completed by around 9 am. First trends will emerge around 10 am," Kumar told reporters here.

The counting of votes for 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly has begun amid tight security. The counting, which began at 8 am, is taking place at 21 centres across the city.

As much as 62.59 per cent voter turnout, out of over 1.4 crore eligible voters, was recorded in Delhi on February 8, when the elections were held in a single-phase in the national capital.

As many as 13,571 polling stations had been created at 2,688 locations. Out of these, 3,141 were critical polling stations and 144 were vulnerable polling stations.

To ensure peaceful and fair polling in all 70 constituencies, as many as 190 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) had been deployed.

Besides this, 19,000 Home Guards and 42,000 Delhi Police personnel were also deployed.

According to Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh, there is a dedicated hall for every assembly constituency at all 21 counting centres.

A tight security net has been put in place to ensure the counting of votes takes place in a peaceful manner. Over 670 candidates are in the fray for 70 seats.