4 MAGYAR KÉTFARKÚ KUTYA PÁRT v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT individually concerned in the present case...By making the mobile phone application available the applicant reacted to the spreading of social media communication. Citizens regularly share events, thoughts and opinions on internet websites through photos taken with their mobile phones. In the context of elections, this led to the fact that all over the world, voters take photos of their ballot papers and share it through social media. By developing the mobile phone application the applicant wanted to enable voters to share photos of ballot papers (or in case of those who absented from the referendum photos of the activities undertaken instead of voting) and other messages in an anonymous way and exercise their right to freedom of expression in a way that the content of the vote could not be linked to the voter. ...In the applicant’s view the impugned decision, its legal interpretation and the consequences applied by the Kúria infringe its right under Article IX (1) of the Fundamental Law. The conduct of voters taking photos of ballot papers and sharing it with others is an expression of an opinion in public matters and constitutes a conduct falling under the freedom of expression of opinions, and in particular, the most protected aspect of it, a discussion on matters of public interest. Thus, the applicant’s activity, providing a forum for voters to express an opinion is also protected by the Article IX (1) of the Fundamental Law...In the applicant’s opinion, the decision of the the Kúria, by invoking voters’ right to freedom of expression, restrained in fact, the applicant’s own conduct of exercising its right to freedom of expression without any constitutional reason.” The applicant further submitted that, as established by the Kúria, the mobile phone application had not infringed the secrecy and fairness of the voting procedure and it had also not been capable of doing so, since the content of the ballot papers could not be linked to the voters. Thus, it argued that these aims could not serve as a legitimate basis for restricting the right to freedom of expression. In any event, even if the application could have infringed the secrecy of voting, the ban on the application had been disproportionate. 17. The Constitutional Court declared the complaints inadmissible on 24 October 2016, with identical reasoning, on the grounds that the cases did not concern the applicant organisation’s right to freedom of expression. It reiterated the Kúria’s finding that although the case related to the freedom of expression of voters, this had not been infringed by the decision of the Election Commission, which had only found that the method used – that is to say uploading photographs to a mobile application – had not been in compliance with the obligation to exercise voting rights in accordance with their purpose. In the Constitutional Court’s view the applicant political party had merely provided a forum for voters to share photographs of their ballot papers or their intention to abstain from voting, it had did not itself expressed an opinion. Since the applicant political party had only complained about the restriction of voters’ right to freedom of expression, it had not been personally concerned by the decision of the Kúria.

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