{"id":3866,"date":"2025-11-30T15:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=3866"},"modified":"2025-11-30T15:00:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T15:00:03","slug":"polls-open-in-honduras-presidential-election-marked-by-fraud-accusations-elections-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=3866","title":{"rendered":"Polls open in Honduras presidential election marked by fraud accusations | Elections News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>The vote is taking place in a highly polarised climate, with the US backing the right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 30 Nov 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">30 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Hondurans are heading to the polls to elect a new president in a tightly contested race that is taking place amid concerns over voter fraud in the impoverished Central American country.<\/p>\n<p>Polls opened on Sunday at 7am local time (13:00 GMT) for 10 hours of voting, with the first results expected late Sunday night.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Most polls show a virtual tie between three of the five contenders: former Defence Minister Rixi Moncada of the governing leftist Liberty and Refoundation (LIBRE) party; former Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura of the right-wing National Party; and television host Salvador Nasralla of the centrist Liberal Party.<\/p>\n<p>The elections, in which the 128 members of Congress, hundreds of mayors, and thousands of other public officials will also be chosen, are taking place in a highly polarised climate, with the three top candidates accusing each other of plotting fraud. Moncada has suggested that she will not recognise the official results.<\/p>\n<p>Incumbent President Xiomara Castro of the LIBRE party is limited by law to one term in office.<\/p>\n<p>Honduras\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office, aligned with the ruling party, has accused the opposition parties of planning to commit voter fraud, a claim they deny.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors have opened an investigation into audio recordings that allegedly show a high-ranking National Party politician discussing plans with an unidentified military officer to influence the election.<\/p>\n<p>The alleged recordings, which the National Party says were created using artificial intelligence, have become central to Moncada\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"public-distrust\">Public distrust<\/h2>\n<p>Political tensions have contributed to a growing public distrust of the electoral authorities and the electoral process in general. There have also been delays in the provision of voting materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are hoping that there will be no fraud and that the elections will be peaceful,\u201d said Jennifer Lopez, a 22-year-old law student in Tegucigalpa. \u201cThis would be a huge step forward for democracy in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amid the heated atmosphere, 6.5 million Hondurans will decide between continuing with Castro\u2019s left-wing social and economic agenda or shifting towards a conservative agenda by supporting the Liberal or National parties.<\/p>\n<p>Castro, the first woman to govern Honduras, has increased public investment and social spending. The economy has grown moderately, and poverty and inequality have decreased, although both remain high. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised her government\u2019s prudent fiscal management.<\/p>\n<p>The country\u2019s homicide rate has also fallen to its lowest level in recent history, but violence persists.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"us-stance\">US stance<\/h2>\n<p>The Organization of American States has expressed concerns about the electoral process, and the majority of its members in an extraordinary session this week called for the government to conduct elections free of intimidation, fraud and political interference.<\/p>\n<p>US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau also warned on X that the United States will respond \u201cswiftly and decisively to anyone who undermines the integrity of the democratic process in Honduras\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump has backed Asfura, posting on social media that \u201cif he doesn\u2019t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Honduras, where six out of every 10 citizens live in poverty, experienced a coup in 2009 when an alliance of right-wing military figures, politicians and businessmen overthrew Manuel Zelaya, the husband of the current president.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, Honduran voters gave Castro a landslide victory, ending decades of rule by the National and Liberal parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The vote is taking place in a highly polarised climate, with the US backing the right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura. Published On 30 Nov 202530 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Hondurans are heading to the polls to elect a new president in a tightly contested race that is taking place [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}