Results for some constituencies were delayed due to a process of random rechecking that the Election Commission had introduced.

Counting of votes registered in an electronic voting machine usually does not take more than four hours for an assembly seat. However, the counting continued for six hours in many constituencies in Delhi [Images].

"It is because the EC has introduced a process of random checking. The poll observer makes random checking of two EVMs after every round of counting. So the process is delayed," Bhupinder Singh, a returning officer at the N P Middle School where the counting was conducted for the New Delhi seat, said.

"It is a sort of double checking. After the random check, the votes are compiled and round-wise results are announced," he said.

What added to the delay is that some ballot papers were also sent by post. "This year, there were more number of ballot papers which were counted manually," he said.

The counting of ballot papers was conducted before the officials started counting votes from EVMs.