Honduras’s National Electoral Council (CNE) announced on Sunday that the electronic system used to transmit the results of the recent general elections had been breached, raising serious doubts about the credibility of the vote count. Marlon Ochoa, the representative for the ruling Libertad y Refundacion (Libre) Party on the CNE’s three-member council, stated during a press conference that the security compromise could undermine the validity of ballots tallied from the November 30th elections. He described the event as potentially one of the most manipulated electoral processes in the country’s democratic history.
According to Ochoa, the source code for the Preliminary Election Results Transmission System, known by its Spanish acronym TREP, had been altered. He specified that unauthorized access must have occurred to modify the software’s contents. When Ochoa directly questioned the CNE’s own technicians as to whether they could guarantee that the system’s source code, sealed on November 30th, remained untouched, he was met with silence, as none of them could provide that confirmation.
Ochoa emphatically stated that the lack of certainty regarding the system’s security “compromises the validity of the results” and described the entire process as “the most manipulated and least credible in the country’s democratic history.” Despite the confirmed breach and the accusations, the election results have remained static since Friday, with the count stalled at 88% of the total ballots.
The preliminary results show the conservative candidate of the National Party, Nasry Asfura, currently in the lead with 40.19% of the vote. Asfura is notably backed by US President Donald Trump. Trailing closely behind in second place is the Liberal Party candidate, Salvador Nasralla, who has received 39.49% of the vote.
Nasralla has been vocal in his opposition to the results, alleging that Asfura and his party have rigged the election. Following the breach confirmation, Nasralla stated on the social media platform X that his party is ready to move forward with a review of the results, indicating a willingness to work alongside the CNE and the National Party to verify the count.
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