Honduran Government Thanks EU, OAS for Overseeing Recount in Presidential Election

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Dec. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Honduran government thanked the European Union and the Organization of American States for overseeing a special recount of 4,753 contested ballot boxes from the country's November 26 presidential election.

The government appreciates the efforts of the international observers from the EU and OAS to ensure a transparent, free, and fair election -- and to bolster Honduras's democratic institutions.

The Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal, or TSE, recounted the ballots under the supervision of electoral observers from the OAS and the EU. The recount concluded at 3 a.m. local time on Sunday, December 10.

At a press conference, TSE head David Matamoros said, "The results of the recount are extremely consistent with what we had originally." President Juan Orlando Hernández received 50.1 percent of the recounted ballots. Opposition Alliance candidate Salvador Nasralla tallied 31.5 percent.

Mr. Nasralla and the Opposition Alliance claimed that the 4,753 ballot boxes recounted by the TSE were subject to "irregularities" after the polls closed on November 26. Mr. Nasralla said last week that he would not accept TSE's results unless thousands of contested ballots went through a special recount in front of third-party international observers.

Both the OAS and the EU supported Mr. Nasralla's calls for a recount. In a December 6 statement, OAS called for TSE to conduct an "exhaustive and meticulous process of verification" for the presidential ballots.

The EU issued a similar statement on December 5, supporting the right of any party to appeal the election results via Honduran law. Together, the Organization of American States and the European Union represent more than 63 sovereign governments across the Western Hemisphere and Europe.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Bolivian President Evo Morales and FARC, have publically supported the Opposition Alliance. President Morales has also blamed an OAS official for election fraud.   

Following TSE's recount, Mr. Nasralla refused to accept the results. In a speech Sunday, December 10, he alleged that the EU, OAS, and the U.S. Embassy in Honduras have "deceived us and are complicit in [electoral] fraud."

This was the second recount the TSE has conducted since it announced preliminary results in the presidential election on December 1. From December 2-3, TSE recounted an additional 1,006 ballot boxes that the Opposition Alliance claimed were irregular.

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SOURCE Republic of Honduras