The Honduran people will once again assemble on November 29, 2009 to cast their vote for the nation's president, members of the legislature and mayors after participating in the highly regarded primary elections that took place in November 2008.
In order to continue fulfilling the February 2008 electoral reforms and continue to raise public and international confidence in the election system, IFES is providing USAID-funded assistance to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE in Spanish) of Honduras, in coordination with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The reform requires TSE to announce the election results as they are submitted by polling stations. Additional regulations are aimed at increasing electoral transparency and credibility, including allowing domestic and international observers to monitor the elections. The TSE is also directly responsible for civic education and the training of poll workers.
Through renowned electoral experts such as Rafael López Pintor, senior electoral cycle specialist, IFES provided advice to the TSE on complying with these new electoral regulations both during the 2008 electoral processes and into 2009.
IFES’ main contribution has been through the Transmission of Preliminary Election Results (TREP in Spanish) program, headed by Jaime Vargas, IFES Representative in Honduras. TREP enables the TSE to make an early announcement of election results with a high level of statistical confidence based on the releases from each individual polling station.
IFES plans to continue assisting the TSE in coordination with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the run-up to the November 2009 general elections. Aside from continuing to fine-tune the TREP program, IFES will provide assistance in development training materials, training election officials, and media monitoring.
Another important project that IFES hopes to participate in is facilitating the access to voting for people with disabilities. Currently, IFES is in talks with the National Federation of Organizations for Disabled People in Honduras (FENOPDIH in Spanish). It is hoped that in coordination with the TSE, activities will be carried out to assist persons with disabilities on the electoral process. IFES plans to focus its efforts on the selection and training of edecanes, or escorts, who will be stationed in polling stations to assist disabled voters on Election Day, as well as civic education aimed at informing disabled voters about Election Day procedures.
Although the primary elections ran smoothly and, from a technical standpoint, it is expected that the general elections will run the same way, they are not without controversy. In April, the Honduran president, Manuel “Mel” Zelaya, announced his intent to issue a decree calling for a referendum for Hondurans to vote on whether the National Constituent Assembly should convene to draw up a new constitution. President Zelaya says this fourth ballot box (“la cuarta urna,” in Spanish) for a new constitution is a move to strengthen a democracy that has faced great societal change in the past few years. Yet, opponents of the measure worry that this is Zelaya’s effort to prolong his administration.
Aside from this recent controversy, Honduras (a democracy since 1982) has traditionally been tainted by accusations of abuse of power, corruption and poor governance. Yet, the success of the recent primary elections and the TSE’s willingness to work with international organizations that specialize in democracy promotion give cause for optimism that Honduras is moving forward to ensuring more free, fair and transparent electoral practices in 2009.