Voting centers for the Honduran general election closed Sunday at 6:00 p.m. (1 a.m. on Monday in mainland Spain), thus beginning the counting of votes organized by the National Electoral Council (CNE) in the elections in which deputies and mayors are elected, in addition to the head of state.
Thus, the counting of votes began an hour later than expected, after the National Electoral Commission stated that the JRVs could, “in accordance with the electoral law”, extend the vote by one hour, and the president of the JRV, Anna Paula Hall, stressed that they “should” do so, whether through the social network X.
At the tentatively scheduled time, 5:00 p.m. (midnight in mainland Spain), Hall reported in a press conference with “a total of 2,841,478 voters” participating. He added, according to what was reported by the Honduran newspaper “El Heraldo”: “This number continues to rise; I ask for the respect of every voter in line.”
As the recount process began, the National Elections Commission instructed JRD members, election IT managers and the armed forces to “provide all necessary facilities to citizens and national and international observers, so that they can enter the JRD buildings and witness the public audit.”
The organization stated in a statement published in its 2016 issue, “At this stage of the process, it is not required to hold credentials to monitor public scrutiny, and any citizen can do so.”
More than six million Hondurans are invited to elect the next head of state, 128 regular and 128 alternate deputies for the National Congress, 20 regular and 20 alternate deputies for the Central American Parliament (Parlasín), 298 mayors, 298 vice-mayors, and 2,168 councilors.
The hectic campaign was characterized by accusations of electoral fraud in a country that has historically suffered from corruption and drug trafficking, as well as the intervention of US President Donald Trump, who demonstrated openly in favor of the far-right candidate Nasri Asfora – against the ruling party Rexy Moncada (left) and the conservative candidate Salvador Nasrallah – and announced his intention to pardon former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, convicted of drug trafficking.
Honduras’ electoral legislation does not take into account the runoff number, so the candidate who receives the most votes will be the next tenant of José Cecilio del Valle’s palace, the presidential residence.