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The first phase of polling in assembly elections in western belt of Uttar Pradesh witnessed 64.22 per cent voter turnout on Saturday. The  polling was held in 73 constituencies of the State. Briefing media persons in New Delhi, Deputy Election Commissioner, Vijay Dev said, the polling passed off peacefully.He appreciated the exemplary participation of voters in the polling process. He said, 42 EVMs had to be replaced due to malfunctioning.Mr Dev said, the final figure of poll percentage is likely to be higher as there were several voters in queue at the time of scheduled closing of the poll. He said, 13 cases of paid news were reported out of which 10 were confirmed and action is being taken.He said that a case of poll boycott was also reported from a polling station in Mathura. He said preventive actions were taken against nearly 3 lakh trouble makers. He said, 19.56 crore cash and liquor worth 14 crore rupees have been seized.Chief Electoral Officer UP, T Venkatesh released the data on Saturday evening saying that Shamli polled highest with 67.12 percent. While in Agra, the voters turn out was 63.88 percent, in Aligarh 64.66 percent, Muzaffarnagar 65.50 percent, Hapur 65.67 percent, Firozabad 63.59 percent, Mathura 65. 39 percent, Noida 59.17 percent, Ghaziabad 58.10 percent, Bulandshahr 64.65 percent, Etah 64.73 percent, Kasganj 64.83 percent, Meerut 66 percent, Hatharas 64.10 percent, Baghpat polled 64.99 percent of votes.”