Trump-backed Asfura edges ahead as Honduras vote swings again
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Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras arrives to hold a press conference after the general election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Leonel Estrada
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TEGUCIGALPA, Dec 4 - The latest results in Honduras' presidential election showed on Thursday that conservative candidate Nasry Asfura, backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, inched ahead of his centrist opponent, Salvador Nasralla, with 84.55% of the ballots counted.
The National Party's Asfura held 40.06%, about 8,800 votes ahead of the Liberal Party's Nasralla, who had 39.73%. Rixi Moncada of the ruling leftist LIBRE Party remained well behind in third place in the election, which was held on Sunday.
According to the country's electoral authority, about 12% of the ballots counted have inconsistencies and will be reviewed.
Ana Paola Hall of the electoral body said the margin between the National and Liberal Party candidates was historically thin.
"It is commendable that the candidates have demonstrated their civic responsibility by refraining from premature declarations of victory or any attempts at sabotage," she said in a post on X.
The latest tally marks another shift in the seesaw race. Nasralla had held a razor-thin lead on Wednesday, and the two frontrunners have repeatedly switched places as hand-counted tallies trickled in from across the country. Preliminary results released on Monday showed what the electoral body called a "technical tie."
RESULTS REPORTING HAS BEEN CHAOTIC
Voting on Sunday was calm and peaceful, according to independent electoral observers. But the subsequent reporting of the results has been chaotic, marred by starts and stops that have intensified frustrations over the tight race.
Members of the electoral council have blamed the company behind the tabulating platform for pauses in the vote count.
Trump has repeatedly waded into Honduras' election. Ahead of the vote, he strongly backed Asfura, the 67-year-old former mayor of the capital of Tegucigalpa. Then he claimed, without providing evidence, possible fraud in a social media post on Monday night.
Trump also pardoned a former president of Asfura's National Party: Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been serving a 45-year sentence in the U.S. after being convicted on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Despite the charged environment, Tegucigalpa's streets remained calm on Thursday as citizens awaited results.
"We request calm," Nasralla said on X on Thursday, but said some records counted during the night had been inflated.
He added that he expected to regain the lead.
The Honduran presidency is decided in a single round. The candidate with the most votes wins, even if the margin is narrow or the candidate falls short of a majority.
In previous election cycles, contested results have led to mass protests and violent crackdowns by security forces. REUTERS
