New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS): The voting process has started picking up pace near here in the Gautam Buddha Nagar after a slow beginning in the early hours of Thursday.

The polling began at 7.00 a.m. sharp in the morning with some residents reaching their nearest polling booth as early as 6.30 a.m. The voter turnout till 10.00 a.m. stood at 8.07 er cent.

An old man, who was among the first persons to reach the polling station to exercise his right to franchise, told IANS that coming to vote is the foremost duty of every person in the country.

When speaking about the issues on which he will cast his vote, the 70-year-old man said, "I will vote for internal security, good governance and well-defined policies of the government."

Noida Chief Development Officer Anil Kumar, who was also there to oversee the polling process, told IANS that they have set up over 250 model booths in the district for the residents.

"We have tried to provide Thank you notes, light music, balloons, selfie points, and decorations at the polling stations to celebrate our democracy," he said.

Around 10.00 a.m., every polling station was witnessing a rush of people as long queues began forming inside the premises of the voting area.

Apart from the voters, heavy police presence could be seen at every polling station in the city.

There are three Assembly seats -- Noida, Dadri and Jewar -- in Gautam Buddha Nagar district having over 16.5 lakh eligible voters.