TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Three days after Hondurans went to the polls in a tightly contested general election, the National Electoral Council (CNE) confirmed on Wednesday that its online results platform has once again stopped updating, this time freezing at exactly 80% of polling stations counted. The repeated technical failures have deepened public anxiety and fueled accusations of incompetence and possible manipulation in one of the closest presidential races in the country’s recent history.
At the moment the system halted — around 2 p.m. local time — Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla held a narrow lead with 1,023,359 votes (40.23%), just 15,831 votes ahead of National Party candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura, who had 1,007,528 votes (39.69%). Ruling Libre Party candidate Rixi Moncada trailed far behind with roughly 19% of the vote.
CNE councilor Cossette López Osorio publicly condemned the contractor responsible for the results website, Grupo ASD, calling the new interruption “inexcusable.” In a strongly worded post on X, she wrote:
“It is INEXCUSABLE for the publication to stop again due to maintenance actions on the system without notifying the Plenary, during crucial hours for the vote count and the publishing of tally sheets. This is now also affecting the public results rooms we implemented to mitigate the effects of the company’s deficient service.”
This is the second major outage since election night. On December 1, the portal crashed when only 50% of votes had been processed, leaving Asfura with a tiny lead of fewer than 500 votes. The count remained frozen for more than 24 hours before resuming on December 2. When it finally restarted, the numbers gradually shifted in Nasralla’s favor, flipping the lead by Tuesday evening.
Grupo ASD attributed Wednesday’s stoppage to “maintenance” required after an alleged surge in traffic overwhelmed the servers. However, many Hondurans remain deeply skeptical, recalling the controversial 2017 election when a similar overnight system failure was followed by a sudden swing that handed victory to then-incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández amid widespread allegations of fraud.
National Party officials insist the race is far from over, arguing that the remaining 20% of ballots come predominantly from rural departments where the party traditionally dominates, particularly Francisco Morazán, Cortés, and Yoro. “The trend is irreversible in our favor,” a senior party strategist told local media, claiming internal parallel counts show Asfura pulling ahead once those votes are included.
Nasralla, the outspoken former television presenter who resigned as vice president under Xiomara Castro earlier this year, struck a confident tone. “We are going to win either way,” he posted on social media, urging his supporters to remain calm but vigilant.
The prolonged uncertainty has reignited old fears in a country still scarred by the 2009 military coup and subsequent disputed elections. Voter turnout on Sunday exceeded 70%, reflecting both high stakes and deep polarization. Many citizens are frustrated with the outgoing Libre government’s inability to curb violent crime, reduce poverty, or deliver on campaign promises, while others distrust a return to the National Party — tainted by corruption scandals and the 2024 U.S. conviction of former president Juan Orlando Hernández on drug-trafficking charges — is unthinkable.
International observers from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union have called for patience and transparency, reporting no evidence of systematic fraud so far but expressing concern over the repeated technical problems and the lack of clear communication from the CNE. CNE President Ana Paola Hall acknowledged that ballots from remote mountainous and riverine areas are still being transported — sometimes by mule or canoe — and warned that final results may not be known for several more days.
Adding to the tension, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly intervened on social media, endorsing Asfura before the vote and later alleging without evidence that the count was being manipulated to favor Nasralla. He threatened to cut U.S. aid if the “wrong” candidate wins.
For now, Honduras remains on edge. Supporters of both frontrunners have gathered outside CNE headquarters in Tegucigalpa, waving flags and chanting, while heavily armed police and military personnel maintain a visible presence. Civil society groups have called for calm and demanded that the remaining ballots be counted publicly and without further delay.
Whatever the final outcome, the 2025’s election has exposed once again the fragility of Honduras’ democratic institutions and the urgent need for electoral reform in a nation desperate for stability, jobs, and an end to decades of political crisis.
