Honduras President, Juan Orlando Hernandez, with Strong Lead in Election Exit Poll, November 27, 2017

Honduras President, Juan Orlando Hernandez, with Strong Lead in Election Exit Poll

November 27, 2017


President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a staunch U.S. ally of the center-right National Party, after polling stations closed in the Central American nation’s election on Sunday, November 26, 2017

Honduras president with strong lead in TV station's election exit poll

Reuters Staff, November 26, 2017

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -

An exit poll by a Honduran TV channel gave a strong lead to President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a staunch U.S. ally of the center-right National Party, after polling stations closed in the poor Central American nation’s election on Sunday.

Honduras President and National Party candidate Juan Orlando Hernandez (C) gestures with Tegucigalpa's mayor Nasry Asfura and his wife Ana Garcia de Hernandez at National Party center in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, November 26, 2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

The Channel 5 exit poll gave Hernandez 43.93 percent of the vote, with Salvador Nasralla, who helms a broad left-right coalition called the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship, trailing on 34.70 percent.

The Honduras election tribunal is due to give its first official count later in the evening.

Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel

Calm reigns in Honduras elections amid tight security

Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 06:42:11|Editor: yan Video PlayerClose

TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) --

Elections in Honduras were happening calmly on Sunday, amid an intense police and military apparatus in place nationwide.

To help maintain security, all businesses were closed for the day, except for supermarkets and malls.

When visiting the capital, Xinhua reporters saw that the city had a heavy police presence along major thoroughfares.

At least 30,000 soldiers and police officers are monitoring the election across the nation, authorities said. By the end of the morning, no security incidents had been reported.

10 political parties are taking part in the elections, but polls only give three candidates with a realistic chance of victory.

The favorite is current president Juan Orlando Hernandez. While the Constitution prohibits presidents from running for re-election, a ruling by the Supreme Court in 2015 opened the possibility of doing so for Hernandez.

In second place, Salvador Nasralla leads an opposition alliance between the Liberty and Refoundation Party and the Innovation and Unity Party.

Finally, Luiz Zelaya, the former dean of the Central American Technological University, is the candidate for the Liberal Party.

In order to guarantee the elections, around 16,000 national observers and over 700 international counterparts are supervising the process. The electoral authorities set to begin providing official results in the evening.

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