In the country there is no option for a second electoral round, whoever gets the most votes wins.
The general elections in Honduras are held this Sunday with a high influx of voters and the opinion of the presidential candidates and observers that the day unfolds in order and tranquility.
“The influx of voters is very good,” the head of the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (MOE-OAS), former Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Solís, told Efe.
Solís indicated that the Vote Receiving Boards opened with a 30-minute delay over the scheduled time, 07:00 local time, but “all the material arrived.”
In the polling stations that Efe was able to visit in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, everything seemed to pass somewhat slowly – something that made some voters despair – but normally and without relevant incidents since the polls opened at 7:30 a.m.
The former president of Costa Rica pointed out that the electoral process is developing “quite well”, but that it is still “too early to talk about the results of the elections.”
Vote in peace
The tranquility at the national level, with complaints about the late opening in some polling stations, has been highlighted, after more than half of the day, the three main candidates: Nasry Asfura, of the ruling National Party; Xiomara Castro, from Libertad y Refundación (Libre), and Yani Rosenthal, from the Liberal Party.
Asfura asked Hondurans to “demonstrate peace and tranquility” after voting at the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University in Tegucigalpa.
“We have to wait until the last moment, we must respect, be calm and show civility, especially politicians,” stressed the official candidate.
Xiomara Castro, wife of former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, ousted in June 2009, also invited citizens to vote en masse to “make a change in our country.”
After voting in the eastern department of Olancho, Castro said that Hondurans have “the opportunity to make a change” and that “that change must be for real.”
The elections, in which 14 parties and twelve presidential candidates participate, are observed by more than 400 special envoys from the European Union, the OAS, the Inter-American Union of Electoral Organizations (Uniore), former Latin American presidents and missions from friendly countries, among others. .
The presiding counselor of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Kelvin Aguirre, said that “the construction of democracy is permanent” and that “a democracy that represents us all cannot be achieved in a day.”
He noted that democracy is the “most valuable asset” of a society and called for respecting the “sovereign will of the people.”
Peace of mind process
The head of the Electoral Observation Mission of the European Union (EU-EOM), Zeljana Zovko, said that so far the elections are taking place in a “calm environment inside and outside the polling stations.”
The deputy of the European Parliament said that she hopes that the general elections in Honduras will be “free, clean and in peace”, so that the day “continues to be peaceful and without violence.”
The massive influx of voters registered in the Honduran capital is repeated in several cities and municipalities of the Central American country.
In fact, the polling stations were full from early in the morning, in some cases in order and separated by the covid-19 pandemic, but in others with crowds.
In many polling stations, according to Efe, people of the elderly and with special abilities gathered who, in wheelchairs, supported by canes or with the hand of a relative, exercised their right to vote.
Voters have their temperatures taken and antibacterial gel applied to their hands at the entrance to voting centers, where security protocol and logistical delays led to long lines.
The director of the Financing, Transparency, Oversight of Political Parties and Candidates Unit of Honduras, Germán Espinal, told Efe that advocates that the elections “resolve the democratic governance” of the country.
A desire that Espinal sees as difficult, considering the poverty situation in Honduras, as part of a “colonial heritage.”
“Even in that, we were the poorest province during the colonial era,” emphasized the head of the Honduras Financing, Transparency, Oversight of Political Parties and Candidates Unit, also known as the “Clean Policy Unit.”
More than 5 million Hondurans, of the country’s 9.5 million inhabitants, are summoned to the polls in a country marked by criminal violence that leaves more than ten deaths a day, poverty and an unprecedented economic crisis.
In Honduras there is no second electoral round. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
