[News] Election Theft in Honduras

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Election-Theft-in-Honduras-20171205-0009.html 



  Election Theft in Honduras

December 5, 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If opposition demands for a thorough examination of election procedures 
and voting tallies are not met, protests and repression may explode in 
Honduras.

Honduras is in crisis. The national election took place on Sunday 26 
November. Results posted that night showed the challenger Salvador 
Nasralla with a 5 percent lead with 57 percent of the votes tallied.

    /*RELATED:
    Coup Against Nasralla in Honduras
    <https://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Coup-Against-Nasralla-in-Honduras-20171204-0014.html>*/

Then strange things began to happen. After midnight on election night, 
TSE stopped posting updates and effectively shut down for the next 36 
hours. When updates resumed, mid-day on Tuesday, the results 
consistently favored the incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez. The 
opposition lead steadily diminished then disappeared.

On Monday 4 December, more than a week after the election, the TSE 
announced results giving a narrow victory to the incumbent National 
Party President Juan Orlando Hernandez. As mass protests continue, the 
opposition has demanded a recount of all the tally sheets received after 
the TSE shutdown.

*Secret Audio Tape Documents National Party Cheating*

Days before the Honduras election The Economist published a blockbuster 
article titled “Is Honduras Ruling Party Planning to Rig an Election?” 
They report “The Economist has obtained a recording that, if authentic, 
suggests the ruling party has plans to distort results in the upcoming 
election.”

The two hour recording is from a National Party training session. It 
details five tactics used to influence election results: buy the 
credentials of small party delegates who supervise the local polling 
place, surreptitiously allow National Party voters to vote more than 
once, spoil the votes for other candidates, damage the tally sheet which 
favors their opponent so it cannot be transmitted electronically to 
election headquarters. and expedite the tally sheets favoring their party.

*Election Misconduct by the TSE*

The election process is managed by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) 
led by president David Matamoros Batson who was previously Secretary 
General and member of Congress for the National Party.

Following is evidence of TSE misconduct and bias:

*1 - TSE delayed posting results that favored the opposition candidate. *

In the 2013 election, TSE started posting the election results at 6:13 
pm when just 24 percent of the total votes had been received. Those 
returns gave the National Party candidate Juan Orlando Hernandez a 5 
percent lead.

This election, TSE acted differently. At 7:55 pm , TSE President 
Matamoros tweeted “We have received 40 percent of the results.” But they 
did not post this. They delayed posting the data until near midnight. 
Then they reported that with 57.2 percent of total votes counted 
Nasralla of the Opposition Coalition was ahead with 45.17 percent versus 
Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National party with 40.2 percent and the 
third place Liberal Party candidate with 13.77 percent.

    /*RELATED:
    Nothing to See Here! US State Dept. Certifies Honduras as 'Clean,'
    Respectful of Rights
    <https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nothing-to-See-Here-US-State-Dept.-Certifies-Honduras-as-Clean-Respectful-of-Rights-20171204-0025.html>*/

*2 - TSE changed the election procedure. *

Honduras election procedure is to count and tally the paper ballots at 
each of the voting stations around the country. The tally sheet (‘acta’) 
is signed off by representatives from each party, then scanned and 
transmitted electronically to TSE headquarters where they are added to 
national totals and posted.

Following the posting of results showing the opposition candidate with a 
significant lead, at about midnight on election day, the TSE changed the 
procedure and stopped posting results for the next 36 hours.

TSE President Matamoros at 1:39 pm on Monday 27 November tweeted: “Today 
we are going to start opening the ballot boxes coming in from across the 
country to understand the ballots and results.”  Five minutes later, at 
1:44 pm, he added “We cannot give results until all the missing tally 
sheets come in.”

The situation was questioned by Spanish election observer Ramon Jauregui 
who noted “There is no technical reason that explains the delay, because 
the tallies from all 18000 polling places were transmitted 
electronically to the @tsehonduras on the day of the election.”

*3 - TSE falsely reported the number of missing tally sheets. *

At 1:56 pm on Monday TSE President Matamoros announced that they had 
received 13,000 of the total but are still missing 6,000 tally sheets 
(“actas”).  “We have received 13,000 tallies from across the country ….. 
we are missing 6,000”.

At 4:17 pm, the number of missing tally sheets mysteriously increased by 
25 percent to 7500. TSE Matamoros announced  “We are missing 7500 actas”.

*4 - TSE officials gave contradictory results. *

While TSE President Matamoros was issuing conflicting information about 
the number of missing ‘actas’, another election official was saying 
something very different. As reported in this Reuters story:

“Election official Marcos Ramiro Lobo told Reuters on Monday afternoon 
that Nasralla was leading by a margin of five points, with about 70 
percent of ballots counted. Lobo said Nasralla appeared certain to win, 
signaling that experts at the electoral body regarded his lead as 
irreversible.”

    /*RELATED:
    Honduras' Opposition Alliance Says Election 'Stolen,' Won't Accept
    Results
    <https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Honduras-Announces-Official-Election-Results-Incumbent-in-Lead-20171204-0008.html>*/

The third place Liberal Party candidate also recognized Nasralla as the 
winner and urged the National Party leader to concede defeat.

About noon on Tuesday the TSE resumed posting election results after the 
36 hour interruption. The new data showed Nasralla’s lead steadily 
declining and by Wednesday the National Party candidate and current 
President Juan Orlando Hernandez was edging ahead. The Center for 
Economic and Policy Research has analyzed the data and determined the 
abrupt swing in elections results was “next to impossible”.

*Where Are Things At Now?*

TSE has announced results showing Juan Orlando Hernandez winning the 
election. The Opposition Coalition candidate Nasralla has called for a 
new election under international observation and control. The Opposition 
Coordinator and former president, Manuel Zelaya, has issued a statement 
calling for the investigation and verification of the election 
procedures and results.

The current situation calls into question the objectivity of the US and 
Organization of American States (OAS). Will the US and OAS issue token 
criticisms but ultimately rubber stamp this Honduras election despite 
the glaring problems? If so, it will highlight the double-standard as 
the US and OAS have aggressively criticized Venezuelan elections and 
refused to acknowledge the results even after full recounts and 
verification.

If opposition demands for a thorough examination of election procedures 
and voting tallies are not met, protests and repression may explode in 
Honduras. The majority of Honduran people evidently want new leadership 
and voted for it. What is transparent is not the election process, it is 
the attempted election theft.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

/*Rick Sterling* is an investigative journalist who was an official 
election observer in the 2013 Honduras election. He can be contacted at 
rsterling1 at gmail.com <http://rsterling1@gmail.com>. /

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