Honduras elections: preliminary vote count ends in technical draw

The Honduras National Electoral Council (CNE in Spanish) said that the preliminary count of the presidential elections ended on Monday afternoon after logging 57% of the vote, with Nasry Asfura and Salvador Nasralla locked in a “technical draw.”  The official count shows National Party candidate Afura ahead with 39.91% of the vote, followed by Liberal Party candidate Nasralla, with 39.81%. The difference between them is only 515 votes. Rixi Moncada, the candidate for the left-wing LIBRE party, is in a distant third position, with almost 20%.  The country has no run-off, and whoever gets more votes in the first round will win. According to CNE President Anita Paola Hall, the narrow margin means that a winner cannot yet be declared. The process will continue with a manual count of all the ballots that, due to technical or logistical reasons, could not be included in the preliminary count. By law, the CNE has a 30-day period to finish the vote count, although the result could come in before that.  “We should maintain patience and prudence, as well as the peace that accompanied his process, until the results are declared,” she posted on X. Gracias al pueblo hondureño por acudir a las urnas y ayudarnos a cuidar el proceso electoral. Hoy, un día después de las Elecciones despertamos en un país con paz, sin actos de violencia y eso es un triunfo para todos los que amamos Honduras.Quiero informarles que el TREP ha…— Ana Paola Hall (@APHall_CNE) December 1, 2025 Last Friday, United States President Donald Trump waded into the Honduran electionary process by announcing his support for Afura. He also announced that he was pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. In a post on social media, Trump said the imprisoned leader has “been treated very harshly and unfairly.”  Hernández, who was president between 2014 and 2022, was extradited to the U.S. a few weeks after leaving office. In March of last year, he was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Who are the candidates left in the race? Salvador Nasralla is the candidate of the long-standing Partido Liberal (Liberal Party), which represented the progressive sector until the emergence of President Xiomara Castro’s party LIBRE. Nasralla is an extravagant TV and beauty pageant host who has run for president twice before, with different parties. He was elected as Castro’s “presidential designee” — a role equivalent to vice president — in 2021, after dropping out of the race and backing her. However, he left the government last year after they fell out. Nasralla has said he admires the economic policies of Argentine President Javier Milei and the hardline security approach of neighboring El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele. He has said he intends to copy Bukele’s policies if he wins. Nasry Asfura is running as part of the traditional conservative Partido Nacional (National Party), which has historically been the Partido Liberal’s rival.  Asfura is a construction magnate who served as mayor of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, between 2014 and 2022. He was Castro’s main electoral opponent in 2021. During his campaign closing rally, he described the views of Moncada as “failed ideologies.”