Honduran Government Thanks International Observers for Confirming Free and Fair Election

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Dec. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the government of Honduras thanked the Electoral Observation Missions to Honduras (EOMs) from the Organization of American States and the European Union; vote processing firm Dale Vukanovich; and the U.S. State Department for their roles in confirming the results of Honduras's November 26 presidential election.

In its final report on the elections, OAS EOM concluded, "Based on its technical analysis, the mission cannot confirm that that the Integrated Scrutiny and Disclosure Electoral System (or SIEDE) has been manipulated with malice."

"It is also important to note that during the last two weeks the mission experts directly observed the procedures carried out," the report stated. "In connection with the review and collation of records, the OAS EOM considered it a positive that the TSE [Honduras's Supreme Electoral Tribunal] decided that all ballots be [re]counted."

The OAS sent an Electoral Observation Mission with 83 observers to Honduras to monitor the national elections.

Dale Vukanovich, the firm that processed the presidential votes, recently stated, "We emphatically affirm that the [electoral] database was not altered at any point . . . 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."

In an official press statement, U.S Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said, "We congratulate President Juan Orlando Hernández on his victory in the November 26 presidential elections, as declared by the Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE)."

For its part, EU EOM said that the TSE's latest recount of 4,753 presidential ballot boxes on December 9-10 "was undertaken in conditions of full transparency and in the presence of national and international observers."

"The European Union cannot and should not intervene in the independence and autonomy of the Honduras people," said Marisa Matias, EU Chief Observer for the general elections in Honduras.

Several sovereign governments from around the world including those of Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Ecuador, Guatemala, Israel, Russia, Brazil, France, Japan, Peru, and South Korea have all congratulated President Hernández on his victory.

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SOURCE Republic of Honduras