Honduran Government: Evidence Shows Election Was Free and Fair

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Dec. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Honduran government thanked Dale Vukanovich, the firm that processed the votes in the country's November 26 election, for providing additional information on how voting data was audited by the Organization of American States in its recent report on the Honduran election.

According to final results released by the Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal on December 17, President Juan Orlando Hernández has been re-elected to a second term.

The Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, has requested new elections in Honduras, citing the findings of a preliminary report from the Organization's Electoral Observation Mission in Honduras. 

In a statement, Dale Vukanovich disputed the findings of the OAS report. "We emphatically affirm that the [electoral] database was not altered at any point. If the OAS technician had done his job and forensically analyzed the database, he would have determined that in no way were there any events that affected the electoral process."

The electoral processing firm also said that the database logs were not reviewed by OAS auditors. "At all times the database, the primary source, was at the disposal of the OAS so they could run all necessary tests and then issue an opinion with certainty on whether the database was altered. Inexplicably, the OAS technician rejected our offer and, therefore, arrived at erroneous conclusions," Dale Vukanovich said.

The firm asked that "the OAS amend the irregularities and deficiencies in the auditing report submitted, otherwise it will only cause more doubt, as the allegations made have no real or accurate support."

In a recent tweet, Minister Executive Secretary of the Cabinet of the Republic of Honduras Ebal Díaz called Secretary-General Almagro's request for a new election "irresponsible."

The OAS sent an Electoral Observation Mission with 83 observers to Honduras to monitor the national elections. In its preliminary report released November 28, OAS EOM stated that "[No OAS recommendations] should contravene the Honduran legal system."

Since the Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced President Hernández's re-election, the governments of Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Ecuador, Guatemala, Israel, and South Korea have all called to congratulate him.

In a statement today to international reporters, a senior U.S. State Department official said, We have not seen anything that alter[ed] the final [Honduran election] result[s]" released by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

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SOURCE Republic of Honduras