The mayor of Tegucigalpa, Jorge Aldana, rejected the declaration of results issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Honduras on Tuesday and announced that he will not recognize any election results until all outstanding ballots are counted, which he claims represent more than 56,000 votes. During a press conference, Aldana referred to statements made by council member Cosette López, whom he cited to support his position.

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Aldana recalled that his candidacy was presented with “a positive list with a day-to-day project full of proposals” and asserted that throughout the campaign and on election day, “the polls and exit polls showed us winning.” He stated that the CNE itself, at various points in the count, also gave him the advantage, but that “the ballots still needed to be recounted. And they refused to do it.”

Their rejection is based on the statement made by Councilor López herself, who indicated that the declaration in 66 municipalities—including the Central District—”has no certainty or reversibility, neither mathematically nor legally.” Aldana quoted López verbatim: “Any controversy or dispute at either electoral level can be resolved in the Electoral Court, which, according to the Organic and Procedural Electoral Law, is responsible for hearing and resolving electoral appeals arising from electoral processes.”

“That’s the crux of the matter! Oh, God! Neither mathematically nor legally, is the result for the Central District in the declaration presented by the National Electoral Council (CNE) today, as stated by the councilors themselves. What does that mean? That we do not recognize any result,” Aldana emphasized. Furthermore, she reiterated that her team “spent 30 days” waiting for the completion of the vote count and now demands a full tally before any transfer of power.

The mayor-elect emphasized that “we will not hand over the mayor’s office to anyone from this place” until the pending tally sheets are processed. His stance aligns with the existence of narrow margins in 66 municipalities—according to the National Electoral Council (CNE) itself—where the data available on the dissemination platform “does not allow for guarantees of irreversibility, mathematically, statistically, or legally.”

The Honduran Organic and Procedural Electoral Law establishes that the Electoral Court is the competent body to resolve challenges arising from electoral processes. Aldana did not formally announce a challenge, but made it clear that his acceptance of the result is conditional upon a full recount of the votes.

In the Central District, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), the number of votes exceeds 56,000, a figure that could alter the official outcome. Meanwhile, electoral authorities are maintaining their declaration, despite acknowledging technical and legal limitations.

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