Members of Honduras’ electoral council have accused one of them of trying to derail the process as they await the results of Sunday’s presidential election.
Cossette López-Osorio of the National Electoral Council (CNE) claimed in a social media post on Tuesday that fellow committee member Marlon Ochoa tried to delay the press conference through “intimidation.”
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“The press conference marking the resumption of results announcement has been suspended,” López-Osorio wrote.
“Councilor Marlon Ochoa opposed the reopening of the process and had members of the Libre Party and their staff stormed the Hotel Plaza Juan Carlos and used intimidation to prevent them from appearing in public.”
The accusation added to the already heated atmosphere surrounding Sunday’s race.
Currently, as vote counting continues, two candidates are in a close race: Salvador Nasrallah of the center-right Liberal Party and Nasry “Tito” Asfullah of the right-wing National Party.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Nasrallah had a narrow lead with over 39.93 percent of the vote, followed by Mr. Asfullah with 39.86 percent.
Rixie Moncada of the leftist Libre party, once the front-runner in the election, was lagging behind in early voting. According to CNE, about 20 percent of the votes have not yet been counted.
Infighting within parliament
But even before the first votes were cast in Sunday’s election, Congress was embroiled in controversy that resulted in accusations of fraud from all three major parties.
The CNE is led by a three-person committee. Each CNE member is elected by the Honduran Congress to represent three major political parties: the Liberal Party, the National Party, and LIBRE, the party of outgoing President Xiomara Castro.
López-Osorio is a representative of the People’s Party. She had a turbulent relationship with Ochoa, her LIBRE partner.
Mr. Ochoa filed a complaint with federal prosecutors in October, alleging that audio recordings were discovered in which Mr. López-Osorio conspired with the Honduran military to influence the outcome.
López-Osorio has denied the allegations. “These are fabricated recordings,” she told Honduran newspaper La Prensa, calling Ochoa’s accusations “outrageous.”
Nevertheless, Attorney General Johel Zelaya opened an investigation into the audio recordings on October 29.
Meanwhile, Ochoa continued to raise questions about election procedures as the Nov. 30 vote approached.
For example, on November 9, he posted on social media that a test of the voting system had “failed” due to connectivity issues.
The results “provide further evidence that the leaked audio is true and that there is a conspiracy against the electoral process orchestrated from within the electoral body itself,” he said.
The CNE also faces other major conflicts. Also in October, Honduras’ Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Roosevelt Hernandez said the military would try to maintain its own vote count.
But Liberal lawmaker Ana Paola Hall, president of the CNE, rejected his request, and legal experts say there is no constitutional basis for the Honduran military to consider the results.
Trouble at the ballot box
Honduras’ presidential election has long been plagued by concerns about fraud and election interference.
For example, in March, advocates argued that long lines and delays in distributing election materials were preventing voters from participating in elections. Some polling stations remained open late into the night due to delays.
Voting numbers also stalled this week as government websites crashed. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, López-Osorio cited some of the “technical glitches” and “transmission issues” that marred the proceedings.
She denied that the hiccups were part of any conspiracy. “This is literally a technical flaw in the disclosure platform,” she told CNN host Fernando del Rincon.
López-Osorio explained that the CNE is “seeking clarification” and is in contact with ASD SAS, the company responsible for the technology. Vote counting efforts will continue, she added.
“It’s a close call and we have a few days left to process most of the ballots,” she said.
A statement posted on CNE’s website echoes her comments. “The CNE requested that ASD SAS provide the fastest possible technical solution to ensure complete and permanent access to statistical data for all citizens,” it reads in part.
Still, the comments are unlikely to dampen efforts to challenge the election results in the coming days.
Already, US President Donald Trump, a supporter of the right-wing Ashraf movement, has amplified claims of election fraud in posts on his online platform Truth Social.
“It appears Honduras is trying to change the outcome of the presidential election. If they do, they will pay a hell of a price!” Trump wrote on Monday.
Moncada, a left-wing candidate, also appears to be planning to contest the results. In a statement this week, she condemned President Trump’s “imperialist foreign interference” in the election process. She also said the initial election results are proof that the October audio leak is real.
“The election was not lost,” she wrote. “Following the entrapment revealed by 26 audio recordings, the two-party system imposed an election conspiracy on us.”
He added: “I declare that I will maintain my position and not surrender.”
López-Osorio also urged voters to be cautious, ending a post about his colleague Ochoa with the message: “Hondurans, stay alert.”
