Slow Vote

Honduras' presidential election took place more than a week ago, but the country's electoral authorities have still not declared a winner.

Context

Days before the recent election in Honduras, US President Donald Trump endorsed Nasry "Tito" Asfura, a candidate from the conservative National Party. Trump also pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who belonged to the same party and had been serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for helping smuggle cocaine. Trump said a win for the ruling leftist party would bring "narcoterrorists" to power and threatened to cut off aid if Asfura lost. Some Hondurans praised Trump’s endorsement, while others expressed frustration.

Vote Tally

By early Tuesday, officials had tallied over 98% of ballots. Asfura held 40.53%, conservative Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party had 39.16%, and Rixi Moncada of the ruling LIBRE party finished third with 19.32%. Roughly 44,000 votes separated the top two candidates.

The counting process stopped multiple times throughout the week, sometimes for days. Officials cited technical failures as the cause, pointing to website malfunctions and problems with thousands of ballot records that required additional review. Electoral authorities have until December 30 to certify the results.

Fraud Allegations

All three top candidates have raised concerns about the election. Nasralla accused "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count and said the election was being stolen.

Moncada called for the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of election interference. Her party urged supporters to take to the streets in protest. Trump also accused electoral officials of trying to change the outcome when Nasralla briefly pulled ahead on the first day of counting.

Arrest Warrant

After Trump pardoned the former president, Hernández, Honduras' attorney general asked Interpol to execute an arrest warrant against him for fraud and money laundering for allegedly using public money to fund political campaigns.

Hernández's lawyer dismissed the warrant as politically motivated, while Hernández himself remains in the US and maintains his innocence.