U.S. Secretary ‍of State Marco Rubio said on Friday (December 19, 2025) the State Department ​has refused the visa application of Marlon Ochoa, a ‌member of the Honduran National Electoral Council, and ​revoked the visa of Mario Morazan, the head of Honduras’ electoral court.

Honduras’ presidential election took place on November 30 but nearly three weeks later there is still no clarity on who will be the country’s next President. The chaotic elections have been rocked by a fumbled vote-tallying process, allegations ​of fraud and U.S. intervention. “The Department has refused the ⁠visa application of Marlon Ochoa and taken steps to impose visa restrictions on another individual for undermining democracy in Honduras,” Mr. Rubio said in a statement. “We ​will consider all appropriate ⁠measures to deter those impeding the vote count in Honduras,” he added.

Mr. Ochoa and Mr. Morazan did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Weeks before Honduras’ November 30 ‌presidential election, Mr. Ochoa had said that a test run ‌exposed deep flaws in the vote-counting system: only 36% of practice ballots were processed. Honduras’ National Electoral ‍Council began on Thursday the long-delayed manual count of about 15% of the votes cast in last month’s election after the ‍U.S. State Department had demanded on Wednesday that the council immediately begin a count of ballots. The electoral council blamed protests for preventing it from starting the manual count of ballots that it said showed inconsistencies and were therefore excluded from the initial tally. The hand count could easily change the election’s preliminary result, which gave Conservative Nasry Asfura of the ⁠National Party a razor-thin margin of 43,000 votes – out of more than 3 million cast – over center-right ​Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla. U.S. President Donald Trump backed Asfura ⁠and suggested that Washington’s support for Honduras was conditional on Asfura winning the election. The council has until December 30 to declare the winner of the election, who would assume office at the end of January ⁠for a four-year term.

Honduras’ conservative National Party candidate Nasry Asfura, backed by Donald Trump, edged ahead in the count of the Central American nation’s presidential election on Monday (December 8, 2025), in an extended process marked by delays and accusations of fraud.

With 97% of the ballots tallied, Mr. Asfura, a 67-year-old former Tegucigalpa Mayor, had 40.52% of the vote as election officials resumed releasing updated results for the November 30 vote, leading his closest competitor by just 42,100 votes. Salvador Nasralla, a television host and three-time presidential hopeful, trailed with 39.18%. The two have repeatedly traded the lead during the count, but on Monday (December 8) afternoon Mr. Asfura’s lead began to widen slightly. Rixi Moncada, the ruling Libre Party’s candidate and a former leftist Minister, was in third place with 19.32%, roughly half the support of her two main rivals.

“After carrying out the necessary technical actions [with external auditing], the data is now being updated in the results,” Ana Paola Hall, president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), said on X.

She urged candidates to remain alert and file any legal challenges as required. The count was frozen on Friday afternoon with some 88% of the ballots processed. About 16% of tally sheets showed inconsistencies and will be reviewed, according to the CNE.

Slow count

The prolonged count has prompted international election monitors to call on Honduran authorities to speed up the process and take steps to restore public confidence in the results.

Mr. Nasralla has alleged fraud, while Ms. Moncada has demanded the annulment of the entire election and said her party is calling for protests and strikes.

On Monday, streets in Tegucigalpa and other cities remained calm. But memories linger of the contested 2017 vote, when security forces opened fire on protesters, killing at least 16 people, according to a U.N. report. About 30 people were killed in total as mass protests swept the country.

The November 30 vote unfolded peacefully, according to independent observers. But the release of results has been chaotic, with fluctuations fueling frustration over the tight race. CNE officials have blamed the company behind the tabulation platform for the slow count.

Trump factor

The election has been further complicated by the involvement of Mr. Trump, who has strongly backed Mr. Asfura and alleged fraud earlier on during the count. He also signaled he could cut funds to Honduras should another candidate win. Days before voting began, Trump also announced he would pardon a former president of Mr. Asfura’s National Party: Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been serving a 45-year sentence in the U.S. after being convicted on drug trafficking and weapons charges.

On Monday, Honduras’ attorney general said he had issued an international warrant for Hernandez’ arrest. His wife, who maintains his innocence, said last week he would not immediately return to Honduras for security reasons and was in a “safe place” in the U.S.