Honduras has now entered its second week without the final results from the National Electoral Council (CNE), which is responsible for announcing the official outcome of the elections held on November 30th.
The counting of votes has faced significant delays, initially due to allegations of fraud linked to President Xiomara Castro’s socialist government and claims of “interference” from former President Donald Trump. After a 135-hour halt, the vote counting resumed on Sunday, with conservative candidate Nasry Asfura leading as of this moment.
It’s pretty clear that the protracted vote counting from Honduras’ presidential election is still dragging on over two weeks post-election.
The election to choose the next president saw strong competition among candidates but mainly focused on the three leading figures: conservative Nasry Asfura from the Honduran National Party (PNH), Salvador Nasralla, a former Vice President representing the Liberal Party, and Rixie Moncada, the former Defense Minister backed by the current ruling far-left Libre party.
While the final tallies remain unknown, preliminary results from the CNE have shown it’s a tightly contested race between Asfura and Nasralla, with Moncada trailing significantly behind and unlikely to surpass his rivals. The margin between Asfura and Nasralla has fluctuated; at one stage, it got to about 500 votes, with Nasralla even pulling ahead temporarily, only for updated figures to put Asfura back in front.
Recent updates from the CNE, dated December 9, indicate that Asfura is ahead by 43,184 votes compared to Nasralla. Asfura, who has been a longstanding figure in conservative politics and previously served as the mayor of Tegucigalpa, received endorsement from Trump just days before the election, a move that reportedly infuriated both Nasralla and Moncada.
Currently, the December 9 update is the latest result from the CNE, but after this update, they again halted the counting process, only to restart it 135 hours later on December 14.
According to the newspaper El Heraldo, the update on December 9 didn’t account for a special count involving 2,700 votes flagged as “inconsistent.” This special count was anticipated on Sunday but had been postponed due to various administrative barriers.
Local media pointed out that one major hindrance involved CNE City Councilman Marlon Ochoa, an election official representing the Libre party, who reportedly refused to authorize the start of the special vote count under orders from the ruling Socialist Party.
On Saturday, Asfura requested a public, televised review of the election results, advocating for participation from civil society, international groups, and observers.
“Let the representatives of the three political parties perform their roles according to the law. We need clarity in the outcome, so the next government can administer peacefully for Honduras,” he shared on social media.
In recent weeks, President Castro and her party have repeatedly alleged that “fraud” was committed against their candidate, Moncada. They have rejected preliminary results indicating a substantial defeat for the ruling socialists, thereby denying any transition of government officials regardless of whether Asfura or Nasralla wins officially.
Reports indicate that the Honduran government filed a formal complaint with the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) on Saturday, condemning Trump’s supposed interference in the election. Castro accused him of violating the principle that sovereignty belongs to the Honduran people, responding to Trump’s backing of Asfura during the campaign.
Amidst the vote counting delays and Castro’s allegations of rigging, the OAS election observation mission released a statement declaring that they found no evidence of fraud in the November 30th presidential elections, although they noted that the delay was “unjustified,” especially in light of Honduras’ current situation.
The mission’s director, Eladio Loyzaga, added that while the handling of election materials showed delays and a lack of expertise in processing results, this did not indicate any fraud or manipulation of the election materials or systems.
Loyzaga also emphasized that while technological aids can streamline ballot counting, the fundamental integrity of the election rests on physical records of the results.
The OAS has called on political entities and authorities to await the official outcomes while ensuring that the final stages of vote counting are conducted with legal adherence, reflecting the people’s will.
