Honduras: Human Rights Observers Report Many Irregularities

Various human rights observers and voters reported many irregularities during the elections on Sunday, which could possibly consist of fraud at the national level.

Kevin Ramos, an observer for the Association of Human Rights and Democracy, told teleSUR correspondent Heather Gies that several members of small parties did not know for which party candidate they were voting for at the polling stations on the ballots.

He also confirmed irregularities of credential trafficking at an important scale, possibly qualifying for “fraud” at the national level.

A voter named Ericson Cles complained about a different type of irregularities in the polling station he was registered which likely affected others. 

"When I was voting, they accepted my ballot paper, but then they did not stamp my signature. I asked why they would not stamp it, they responded it was the normal procedure," he said.

"I left and called my girlfriend, who had just voted somewhere else, she confirmed that they have to stamp the signature, so I reported this poll station to one of the observers, and we made sure that my signature had a stamp on it, the other ones did not have any stamp either, which nullify them all. I've seen that other people reported the same facts on social media."

Teleceiba also reported live irregular trafficking of identity documents, broadcasting live someone from the National Party who exchanged identity cards with a voter before running away from authorities. The TV channel's cameraman and a journalist were also assaulted during the vote.

Millions of Hondurans are still casting their votes to elect a new president and 128 members of the National Congress in polls across the country.

Attention is primarily focused on the presidential election, in which current President Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party faces off against two primary candidates: Salvador Nasralla of the Opposition Alliance and Luis Zelaya Medrano of the Liberal Party.

The National Party leader is the first incumbent in the Central American country's history to be allowed to run for a second term. Controversy surrounds his re-election bid, given that the country’s constitution forbids it. The right-wing leader was a key figure in orchestrating the 2009 coup that ousted former President Manuel Zelaya, who sought to amend constitutional restrictions on term limits.

“Since the 2009 coup, Honduras changed, people and the youth as well became woke, we realized that this country needed people who could govern properly," said a supporter for Nasralla. "Hernandez' administration has completely revoked our rights. That's why we are happy to vote today for change .”

“I voted for him because I want truth and justice for Berta Caceres,” she added, referring to the indigenous activist killed in March 2016.

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