Arya News - Honduras` ruling party has asked electoral authorities to annul the vote count from the Nov. 30 presidential election, citing serious failures.
Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Honduras" ruling party, Libertad y Refundación (Libre), has asked electoral authorities to annul the vote count from the Nov. 30 presidential election, citing what it describes as serious failures in the system used to transmit preliminary results.
The party sent the request to the National Electoral Council, or CNE, which it accuses of major irregularities in the Preliminary Results Transmission System, known in Honduras as TREP.
Libre"s legal representative, Edson Argueta, said the system "is a disaster" and "does not guarantee the popular will," arguing that the entire process should be invalidated.
The vote count has been stalled since Friday, deepening public uncertainty. With 88.02% of tally sheets processed, Nasry Asfura of the National Party leads with 40.19% of the vote. Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party follows with 39.49%. Libre"s candidate, Rixi Moncada, is in third place with 19.30%.
CNE officials have acknowledged the technical issues. Council president Ana Paola Hall said the failures were caused by " technical problems outside the CNE"s control" and promised that the full results will be released.
Council member Cossette López extended the deadline for parties to request an administrative annulment or a special recount, citing delays in data processing and difficulties accessing the official platform. Officials say the measure aims to address complaints of irregularities and ease political tensions.
Nasralla said he does not support annulling the election, but he accused authorities of subtracting votes from his tally. He told reporters that his team has "100% of the physical tally sheets" and that "more than 5,000 sheets contain serious errors," insisting that the official numbers do not reflect the actual results and that a detailed review is needed.
The Organization of American States urged Honduran authorities to speed the count and ensure traceability of the results. The mission, led by former Paraguayan foreign minister Eladio Loizaga, said its observers found the race to be extremely tight and warned of limited technical expertise in developing and implementing tools for processing and releasing vote totals.
Warnings about system failures surfaced weeks before the election. During the Nov. 9 national simulation, authorities detected problems with the TREP transmission system.
On election day, the Honduran newspaper El Heraldo reported incidents at polling stations, including double voting, trafficking of credentials and altered tally sheets. Videos posted on social media appeared to show poll workers casting additional ballots in favor of the National Party.
Amid these concerns, the CNE authorized a repeat vote Sunday in the municipality of San Antonio de Flores, after several polling stations failed to open Nov. 30, invalidating the process locally.
With 4,996 registered voters, the new vote in San Antonio de Flores has taken on decisive weight. The nationwide gap between Asfura and Nasralla stands at just 515 votes, making the results from this municipality potentially crucial in determining the next president.
CNE president Ana Paola Hall said the repeat vote complies with electoral regulations, and that the results will be incorporated into the final national count.