LA Times Op-Ed: Honduras elections: A chance to get it right this time

[Judi Lynn]

3. After Honduras vote, competing presidential candidates claiming victory

After Honduras vote, competing presidential candidates claiming victory
By Nick Miroff, Updated: Sunday, November 24, 8:51 PM

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — After a day of relatively trouble-free voting in a tight race, Honduras appeared headed for a new political showdown late Sunday, as competing presidential candidates began claiming victory with only a fraction of the ballots counted.

Leftist Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, the wife of deposed former president Manuel “Mel” Zelaya, declared herself the “new president of Honduras” even as preliminary tallies showed her conservative rival, Juan Orlando Hernandez, with an advantage.

The vote count was expected to stretch late into the night, with many here anxious that a close, contested election could toss the troubled country askew once more.

The tense evening followed a day of balloting that international observers said was largely without incident or irregularities. “Everything was calm,” Enrique Correa, the chief of mission from the Organization of American States (OAS), said in an interview. “There were no signs of fraud.”

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/voters-in-honduras-election-hope-for-change-without-violence/2013/11/24/c3189e8c-554b-11e3-bdbf-097ab2a3dc2b_story.html?wprss=rss_world