OAS Finally Hints at 'Irregularities' in Honduran Elections Nearly Two Weeks After Vote

Eldonita de Pavel Jacomino
2017-12-08 15:33:46

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Washington, December 8 (RHC)-- After almost two weeks since Honduran elections, the Organization of American States finally issued a statement, saying it may call for a new presidential vote if "irregularities" continue to undermine the credibility of the November 26th results, which have not been officially announced. 

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro said in a written statement the regional group would prefer to audit the existing ballots, rather than initiate a new vote, adding that the confidence of Honduran citizens in their electoral system cannot be restored “without an exhaustive and meticulous process of verification that determines the existence or not of an electoral fraud." 
 
The Opposition Alliance's Salvador Nasralla and many national and international organizations have called voter fraud, as a wide lead was erased to right-wing incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party.  With the electoral process in its second week, Nasralla and his team began calling for a run off election if a full ballot recount under international scrutiny couldn’t be completed. 

The Opposition Alliance first demanded an internationally audited recount of the ballots from over 1,000 polling stations, which was carried out. They later demanded that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal recount the disputed ballots from over 5,000 polling stations.  Alliance evidence of electoral irregularities on the part of the TSE and its Director David Matamoros has incited profound distrust of the TSE from the opposition camp, creating a virtual stalemate in the process. 

Salvador Nasralla said he no longer recognizes the TSE and demands that an international mediator oversees any recount. “If we hadn't had international participation, we would truly be in the law of the jungle,” Nasralla commented.  Nasralla and his team had earlier sent the TSE its 11 demands for electoral transparency, which included the revision of ballot boxes they say arrived at TSE offices “opened” exposing “sensitive information,” but they haven’t been completed. 

Luis Zelaya, of the Liberal Party and third runner-up in the elections, has thrown his support to Nasralla and agreed that a full recount under OAS and European Union observation should take place. 



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