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Preliminary Report of the Electoral Observation Mission of the OAS in Honduras

In response to the invitation of the government of the Republic of Honduras and in accordance with Chapter V of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the Organization of American States (OAS) deployed a Mission composed of 35 technicians and observers from 17 OAS Member States and Observer States to observe the primary elections that took place on Sunday, November 18, 2012.

The Electoral Observation Mission of the OAS (EOM/OAS) began its work during the last week of October with a visit to the country in which the Chief of Mission, Enrique Correa, held meetings with electoral and governmental authorities, political leaders, and representatives of the international community accredited to the country. He also signed agreements establishing the framework for ensuring the independence of the work done by the Mission.

The EOM/OAS was conformed of a core group of specialists who conducted a substantive and detailed analysis of the process in terms of electoral organization, technology, political analysis, campaign finance, and gender. The Mission also included a group of coordinators and international observers who were deployed in 12 of the 18 departments of the country, and directly observed the process in areas such as the delivery of materials, training of polling station members, and election day itself, from opening to closing and counting at polling stations.

Also, the EOM/OAS maintained a constant presence throughout the stage of final vote counting, watching closely the process of digitization of records at the Vote Counting Center located at INFOP, and the recount which concluded with the proclamation of the results by of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on December 9.

Observations on the electoral process

The Electoral Observation Mission highlights the civic engagement of the Honduran people during these primary elections. The peaceful conduct of these elections represents a firm step forward in the process of democratic stabilization and reintegration of the country in the Inter-American System.

The day after the election, the EOM/OAS highlighted the civic commitment of the Honduran people that could be seen through a high turnout on Election Day, when they exercised their right to vote in a peaceful manner.

In this context, the EOM/OAS stresses the intense work of the TSE which prompted a series of important measures designed to strengthen and provide greater transparency to the election process. It is important to note the decision of the judges of the TSE to perform open vote counting in the Vote Collection Centers on the day of the election, the incorporation of the new position of the electoral custodian and the hiring of an international audit that conducted strict monitoring of all activities and processes carried out by the electoral body.

Regarding the figure of the electoral custodian, the Mission recognizes the work done to define its functions and to train personnel to carry out those functions, while at the same time noting the need in the forthcoming electoral process to plan further in advance recruiting for the position, to increase the number of custodians and to optimize the procedures for designation and accreditation of these officials.

The conformation of the Vote Collection Centers, as recorded by the OAS in previous elections, was in charge of the internal movements of the parties. Once again, and in the context of the existing legal and operational conditions for the delivery of credentials, the Tribunal handed out blank credentials to the movements within the political parties, prompting accusations of trafficking of credentials. On this subject, and as was stated in the final report of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission in 2008, it is recommended that specific measures are taken to prevent such incidents, for instance, consideration of including complete details of the citizen receiving the credential.

During the days before the election, the Mission toke note of the problems encountered in relation to the request and delivery of identity cards to different political parties. Related to this practice, the EOM/OAS considers that the National Registry of Persons (RNP) must be strengthened with greater human and material resources to carry out its tasks of delivering personally and more efficiently these documents at the same time it protects citizens’ basic right to identity and privacy.

It should be noted that the TSE ensured good conditions for the beginning and further development of the day. The distribution of materials was efficient, and most of the voting tables had all the materials for voters ready at the time set by law. In particular, the OAS Mission noted the high number of women who joined and chaired the Vote Collection Centers, revealing their commitment to democracy.

The Mission recognizes the efforts made by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to improve the system of Transmission of Preliminary Results (TREP) used on Election Day. However, in view of the problems of coverage and connectivity that emerged on Election Day, the EOM/OAS suggests that new measures that do not necessarily rely on a system of voice transmission be taken into account, in order to have results on Election Day at the next general election in 2013.

In terms of gender, the Mission welcomes the recent reform of the Electoral and Political Organizations Law in Honduras, which strengthened the instruments to promote gender equality in the electoral contest. The reform increased the quota from 30% to 40%, and this percentage will be raised to 50% (parity) in 2016. The Mission also recognizes as a positive aspect of this law its provisions for directed financing, which requires political parties to use 10% of the public funding they receive in activities aimed at the training and promotion of female leadership within parties. For these primaries, this fee was applied effectively in the makeup of the ballots of the different political movements.

In addition to these reforms that are key to ensuring the effective participation of women in public offices, a 30% quota for leadership positions in political parties was approved. Given that the parties are the options among which the electorate chooses, this quota of 30% represents an important tool to, in the first place, help ensure a basic representation of men and women, and secondly, to promote gender equity within political parties and organizations, and therefore in electoral competition. These standards are expected to increase the number of female legislators, given that as of today only 25 of the 128 representatives are women, which constitutes 19.5%. The situation is replicated at the municipal level because of the 298 available mayoral positions; only 17 are occupied by women.

The Mission also conducted a follow-up on issues of political and electoral financing. The Law on Elections and Political Organizations of Honduras establishes a set of accountability mechanisms, among which there is an internal body responsible for party finances, accounting and financial reporting. However, the law does not clearly specify whether this system applies to primary elections, nor the mandatory levels of compliance for movements in party primaries. In practice, the movements establish, at their own discretion, their own internal accountability devices according to their abilities and needs. For its part, the legal framework does not establish mechanisms of state control, which represents a gap in the external auditing of the finances of the primary elections.

The EOM/OAS values and recognizes the efforts of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to provide the assurances and necessary transparency for the vote counting stage completed on December 9, through which, and after days of extensive work, the commitment to the Honduran people prevailed. The Mission maintained a constant presence in Tegucigalpa throughout this process, and noted an organized and well-planned process, confirming the presence of representatives of several political movements as well as the ongoing verification work done by the international audits.

Recommendations

In order to strengthen the electoral institutions and processes in Honduras, the OAS Mission is pleased to suggest the following recommendations for consideration by policy makers and Honduran society:

1. Regarding the integration of Vote Collection Centers, and ahead of the general elections of 2013, consider undertaking the necessary reforms to the electoral law and political organizations to “citizenize” the Vote Collection Centers so they can be made up of unaffiliated citizens, trained and selected randomly by the TSE itself.

2. Regarding credentials for members of polling stations, and assuming the maintenance of the current model, it is suggested that parties make a greater effort to deliver the listings of the composition of the polling stations to the TSE according to the times established in the law. Also, the EOM suggests that consideration be given to delivering credentials containing the personal data of the citizen.

3. The EOM/OAS believes that additional efforts should be made to ensure that members of the Vote Collection Centers of the different parties are trained in a timely manner in order to prevent that, just days before the election, a substantial percentage of members of the different movements without training remain.

4. In relation to identity cards, consider providing the National Registry of Persons with greater resources and infrastructure for this institution to make personal delivery of the document.

5. Looking forward to the next elections in 2013, the Mission recommends, respectfully but emphatically, considering other forms of preliminary data that do not depend on a voice transmission system and have greater coverage.

6. The Mission recommends, in order to ensure that the quota is effective, especially now that the minimum participation percentage increased to 40%, that alternation or position mandates be considered to ensure that women are included on the lists in positions where they have a genuine chance of being elected. Also, the law incorporating penalties for parties that do not meet the gender quota should be considered.

7. The Mission suggests exploring the possibility of establishing an explicit obligation for movements to apply the accountability mechanisms that are detailed in the regulations for the primary elections and the presentation of specific reports on campaign financing in primary elections. Also, the Mission suggests the establishment of the verification and supervision of the financial mechanisms of the movements during the primaries as a legal responsibility of the TSE, and in particular the consideration of audits of campaign income and expenditure.

In 2012, the OAS celebrates 50 years observing elections in the Americas. The objective of these missions is to cooperate with the Member States with the ultimate aim of strengthening their democratic systems. To this end and as established by the agreement on observation procedures signed between the OAS General Secretariat and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Honduras, the Mission reiterates its commitment to hold a post-election visit in order to follow-up on the recommendations with the appropriate authorities, and offer the assistance of the OAS in the electoral cycle continues toward the next presidential election.

In the coming weeks, the Chief of Mission will present a report of this Mission to the OAS Permanent Council to deliver its results and to expand upon the recommendations about the electoral process.

It has been announced that complaints may be in progress over the course of the next few days. With this, the claimants are within their rights. The EOM/OAS trusts that the appropriate courts will resolve these claims in accordance with the standards of Honduran law.

In conclusion, the Mission wishes to congratulate the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the various movements, political parties and especially the people of Honduras, for their commitment to democracy demonstrated throughout this election process.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-462/12