Voting cannot be made compulsory since as it would violate right of freedom of speech and expression.: EC says to SC

The Election Commission has filed an affidavit expressing its stance in response to a public interest litigation that wants a direction to the commission to frame new guidelines making voting mandatory. The commission said right to vote was not a fundamental right but statutory.“The decision taken by the voter after verifying the credentials of the candidate either to vote or not to. Additionally, the Election Commission informed the Apex Court that voting cannot be made compulsory since as it would violate the constitutional right of freedom of speech and expression. “The law provides the citizen of India, the freedom to vote or to refrain from voting at an election on the ground of the same being the fundamental right of expression guaranteed to every citizen of India,” the affidavit read.