On Monday, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Honduras concluded the vote count of the convulsive elections of November 26th, with an advantage for President Juan Orlando Hernández before opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla, although without officially proclaiming the winner.
TSE president David Matamoros said that Hernandez had 42.98% of the votes and Nasralla 41.39%, when 18 of the 1,800 minutes had not been uploaded to the computer system.
The count projects Hernández as the winner of the elections. The 49-year-old right-wing politician was able to compete thanks to a controversial judicial ruling that endorsed his candidacy for re-election, which the Constitution prohibits.
However, the electoral authority admitted that they could accept the opposition lawsuit to review more than 5,000 acts that in their opinion had problems.
The possibility of a new mandate has unleashed the fury of supporters of Nasralla, from the leftist Alliance of Opposition Against the Dictatorship, who allege “fraud” and “theft” of the election and have clashed with police and military, resulting in a dead young woman.
Matamoros explained that the proclamation of the next president can take about 22 days, because after the vote count comes a phase of challenges that must be met, according to the law.
In addition, vote count continues for 128 legislators of the Congress, authorities of 298 municipalities and 20 legislators of the Central American Parliament.