Irregularities Reported on Election Day

The Youth Electoral Platform (PJE) and the Center for Democracy Studies (CESPAD), involved in the electoral observation process in various parts of the country, alert and urge the relevant electoral authorities and national and international electoral missions of the following:

1. In the Saúl Bueso Castañeda school, a voting center in the municipality of Santa Rita in the department of Copán, the secretary of the Municipal Electoral Council impeded the access of accredited observers of the Youth Electoral Platform into the voting center.
2. The National Electoral Council (CNE) in Agreement 13-2021 that outlines the election observation procedure establishes in Article 4 that the objective of observation and monitoring is to promote transparency and increase the level of legitimacy of the obtained results, reflecting in all moments the preeminence of the truth.
3. Similarly, Article 16 of the same agreement, stipulates that accredited electoral observers and accompaniers have the right to freedom of movement within the country, in order to fulfill their electoral observation mission. It also establishes that they can observe in the voting centers from the time of arrival of the electoral materials until the return of such electoral materials and participation in informative, internal, and political party sessions planned by the CNE.
4. We call upon the relevant authorities to permit the right to election observation, considering the importance of this right.

Tegucigalpa, November 28, 2021, 8:19 am

The Youth Electoral Platform (PJE) and the Center for Democracy Studies (CESPAD), through the electoral observation process in various parts of the country, alert and urge the relevant electoral authorities and national and international electoral missions of the following:

1. Outside of the Education Center November 18 in Choluteca, there are reports of the presence of political party activists influencing citizens to vote in their favor.
2. In the voting center, school Federico Padilla Rubi in the Arenalito village in the department of La Paz, the Voting-table Supervisory Groups (JRV) 13320 and 13321, there are political party activists handing out sealed envelops to voters and giving instructions about their vote.
3. Article 542 of the Criminal code, establishes the crime of electoral coercion as: an action of a person that is not legally authorized to impede, by means of the use or not of violence to exercise their right to vote. The punishment for this crime is 4 to 6 years in prison.
4. We demand prompt action from respective authorities to stop acts that obstruct the free electoral determination of the citizenry.

Tegucigalpa, November 28, 2021, 9:58 am.

The Youth Electoral Platform (PJE) and the Center for Democracy Studies (CESPAD), through the electoral observation process in various parts of the country, alert and urge the relevant electoral authorities and national and international electoral missions of the following:

1. In the voting center, school Maximiliano Sagastume in the neighbourhood Sagastume in Francisco Morazán, there are reports of vote buying and selling by political party activists that say the “bonuses” are support from the “Better Life (Vida Mejor)”, and are offering roofing and flooring materials and money in exchange for votes.
2. Keeping in mind that cell phones are prohibited, there are reports that tickets are being handed out by activists to voters who write their voting table number (Junta Receptora de Voto) and their position assigned in the census, in order to deliver what was promised.
3. Article 542 of the Criminal code establishes that electoral coercion is a crime punishable from 4 to 6 years in prison.
4. These actions limit citizen’s freedom to elect and also, reflect an unfair electoral competition.

Tegucigalpa, November 28, 2021, 10:42 am