Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi on Thursday said the Election Commission was not in favour of introducing “compulsory voting.”

“It is not desirable, it is not feasible. Democracy and compulsory voting do not go together,” he said.

In the the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, as many as 30 crore voters did not vote. “If we fine them with even Re.1, we will have to file 30 crore cases,” he said, pointing out that 2,57,928 cases were already pending in courts.

Referring to the recent Bihar Assembly polls, where there was a 16 per cent increase in voter turnout compared to the previous polls, he noted that instead, the voter awareness campaign could be intensified.

On the voting right given to 11 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) through a recent Act, he said efforts were on to frame draft rules by December-end, and that the Commission had a meeting with the Secretaries of the Ministries of Law and Justice, External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs on the subject.

Mr. Quraishi, who was addressing journalists along with Union Law and Justice Minister M. Veerappa Moily, did not give any promise on whether NRIs could vote during the coming Assembly polls in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry.

On criminalisation of politics, he said the Commission had proposed disqualifying any person accused of an offence punishable by imprisonment for five years or more from contesting polls even when the trial was pending, provided charges were framed against him by the competent court.

He pointed out that the Law Commission had recommended that at least those against whom charges were framed by the court should be debarred from contesting.