Challenger holds surprise lead in Honduras presidential vote

Freddy Cuevas and Christopher Sherman, Associated Press
 Updated 3:58 pm, Monday, November 27, 2017

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — The main challenger to Honduras' president held an unexpected lead Monday in early returns from the presidential election, then officials stopped releasing results and the ruling party continued to claim victory while readying its supporters to take to the streets.

David Matamoros, president of the electoral court, announced around 2 a.m. that with 57 percent of the votes counted from Sunday's election, Salvador Nasralla had 45.7 percent to 40.2 percent for conservative President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Hernandez, an ally of the U.S., had gone into the election predicted to win based on his popularity for fighting crime, but his party also drew heavy criticism for getting a court to override the Honduran constitution's ban on consecutive presidential terms. And corruption cases also tainted the administration.

Turnout in Sunday's vote appeared to be heavy across the country, with relatively minor irregularities reported.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Challenger-ahead-in-counting-of-Honduras-12385413.php#photo-14611230



Salvador Nasralla