Honduras opposition candidate rejects official vote count
Honduran opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla has dismissed the vote count being presented by the electoral tribunal following a sudden reversal of his lead that came after a 24-hour delay in the official announcement of the results.
Nasralla, a television host, announced at a press conference in the capital, Tegucigalpa, on Wednesday that he would not accept the official count. Hours earlier, he had vowed to respect the final results once every disputed vote had been scrutinized in a signed statement brokered by the Organization of American States.
At the presser, he said the document had “no validity” any more and rejected the count altogether, saying his opponent, US-allied incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez, was trying to rob him of his win.
Nasralla, allied with leftists, had initially gained an upset five-percentage-point lead over Hernandez, until the electoral count abruptly stopped on Monday. When it restarted a day later, the count began favoring the president, who edged ahead earlier on early Wednesday before it stopped again.
David Matamoros, the head of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Honduras, said late on Wednesday that a failure with the counting system had made the hold-up in the counting process. However, he said that the problem was “not critical” and the system “is now functioning properly.”
He added that a full vote count would be ready on Thursday as “all the documentation is now in our possession.”
Nasralla alleged that the electoral tribunal was manipulating the count, urging his supporters to take to the streets of the capital to defend his “triumph.”
Both Hernandez and Nasralla claimed victory shortly after the Sunday election.
Meanwhile, police fired tear gas canisters to disperse Nasralla’s supporters outside the election tribunal headquarters. The fumes entered the building, forcing an evacuation of the staff.
Honduras has one of the world’s bleakest crime records. Hernandez boasts of his achievements in reducing the country’s murder rate. The conservative figure also enjoys massive support from the US government and repeatedly quotes US officials who have hailed his records in fighting crimes.
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