US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA2363

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 002363 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, WHA/USOAS, AND DRL/PHD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CEN AND DCHA/DG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, HO 
SUBJECT: Honduran Elections: Rules of the Game 
 
REF: Tegucigalpa 2346 and previous 
 
1. Summary.  Honduran general elections will take place 
November 27.  Under a new Electoral law reform passed early 
in 2004, Honduran voters will for the first time in a general 
election be able to select individual candidates for Congress 
shown on the ballot with their picture as well as their name. 
The direct election of congressional members contrasts with 
the old party slate system whereby candidates were elected on 
rank-ordered congressional lists.  A Supreme Electoral 
Tribunal (TSE), managed by three political party appointees, 
has national authority to run the elections.  End Summary. 
 
General Elections - Five Parties Participating 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
2. Honduran general elections will take place November 27. 
Voters will be selecting candidates for president/vice 
president, congress, and mayor/city councils.  The candidates 
will be from all five parties, the National Party (PN), the 
Liberal Party (PL), the Innovation and National Unity Party 
(PINU), the Christian Democratic Party (DC), and the 
Democratic Unification Party (UD). 
 
TSE - Key Institution for Elections 
 
SIPDIS 
----------------------------------- 
 
3. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has the authority 
over the elections.  It will oversee 298 municipal 
commissions who report to 18 departmental commissions which 
in turn report to the TSE.  Each party in theory will also 
have a representative at each voting table, as well as at the 
municipal and departmental commissions.  According to the 
Electoral Law, the departmental and municipal tribunals will 
continue to operate up to a month after the elections are 
over.  Their main purpose and function is to monitor 
departmental and municipal electoral results and send them to 
Tegucigalpa for the official tally. 
 
4. The TSE budget is 180 million lempiras (USD 9.5 million) 
for the general elections, including funds from international 
donors.  The TSE has approximately 140 employees - 60 
administrative, 40 technical staff, and 40 support staff.  In 
addition it has temporarily hired 1,580 people through the 
country to run the electoral tribunals - departmental and 
municipal.  It will hire an additional 800 people; 300 people 
who will register the ballot information as it comes in to 
the TSE, and 500 people as temporary workers in the 
warehouses, charged with the management and packing of all 
electoral materials to be delivered throughout the country. 
The TSE must train all poll workers; there will be 96,000 - 
168,000 poll workers.  Police and the military will be 
responsible for the transport and security of ballots. 
 
5. The TSE consists of President Aristides Mejia (PL), 
Magistrate Jacobo Hernandez Cruz (PN), Magistrate Saul 
Escobar (DC), and Backup Magistrate Yolanda de Vargas (PINU). 
All formal TSE decisions are by majority vote by the three 
magistrates. 
 
Photos and Other New Aspects of Ballots and Voting 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
6. Under a new Electoral law passed in January 2004 that came 
into effect in April 2004, Honduran voters will, for the 
first time in a general election, be able to select 
individual candidates for Congress, shown on the ballot with 
their picture as well as their name.  The presidential 
ballots will have the presidential and vice presidential 
candidates, the municipal ballots will have the mayoral 
candidate and deputy mayoral candidates, and congressional 
ballots will have all the congressional candidates.  The 
direct election of congressional members contrasts with the 
old party slate system whereby candidates were elected on 
rank-ordered congressional lists.  Congressional candidates 
are selected at-large and do not represent individual 
districts.  On the congressional ballot, voters can "cross" 
their votes and select individual candidates from different 
parties. 
 
7. The ballot will be a paper ballot printed in color, with a 
box under the name/photo of each candidate.  Voters will use 
a special black crayon pencil to vote and must check a box 
below their choice (or mark the photo) for the ballot to be 
valid.  The congressional and municipal ballots votes will 
include, for the first time, the pictures of the presidential 
candidates for the National, Liberal, and Christian 
Democratic Parties on the left-hand side of the ballot (with 
slogans as well for the National and Liberal Parties).  The 
UD and PINU parties chose not to include their presidential 
candidates' photos on the ballots and will only have their 
parties' symbols. 
 
8. The TSE has ruled that a maximum of 350 people will vote 
at any voting "table."  The TSE will also have multiple 
voting booths at each electoral table so that voting may 
simultaneous.  Electronic voting, using machines on loan from 
Brazil, will take place on a test case basis in Tegucigalpa, 
San Pedro Sula and a small town to be determined by the TSE. 
People will be chosen at random to cast their electronic 
vote.  The electronic vote will only be an exercise; it will 
not count. 
9. The TSE will rely during this election on the voting booth 
closing minutes which are the official tallies of votes. 
During the general elections, three different formulas are 
used to define the three different elections that take place. 
The presidential elections are decided by simple majority 
vote, the congressional election by proportional 
representation of quotients and residues (left over votes), 
and the municipal elections are determined by a mixture of 
the two formulas mentioned above (see septel for details). 
 
10. The new law limits campaigns to 90 days for general 
elections; the campaigns must officially end midnight 
November 21.  A political candidate can run for one political 
position only.  The office of Vice President was created, and 
the current system of three presidential designates was 
eliminated in the new law.  The law also mandated limited 
campaign finance reporting requirements. 
 
Almost 4 Million Eligible Voters 
-------------------------------- 
 
11. There are 3,976,549 million people on the final list of 
eligible voters for the general election.  (Honduras has a 
population of approximately 7 million.)  Honduran voters in 
the U.S. will be able to vote for President and Vice 
President in the general election at Honduran consulates. 
Suffrage is universal and mandatory for those 18 and older; 
however, the clergy and members of the military or civilian 
security forces are not permitted to vote.  Convicted felons 
cannot vote.