海角大神

With clouds of tear gas hanging in the air, hundreds of students sheltered themselves behind the National University鈥檚 gates two days after the hotly contested presidential election here.

The student groups didn鈥檛 come out looking for trouble, they say, but to register their disgust with the country鈥檚 election system 鈥� which had just proclaimed ruling party Congressman Juan Orlando Hern谩ndez Honduras' next president.

Many of these youth were among thousands of university students who sacrificed their chance to vote in order to serve as election custodians, running polling centers in far-flung parts of the country.聽Though none would give his or her full name, citing fears of reprisal, several recalled聽witnessing signs of fraud, like the buying of votes and polling credentials; voters presenting false IDs; and people handing out gifts on the eve of the Nov. 24 election.

鈥淲e thought [this election] was going to be different, and it was the same as always,鈥� says a 23-year-old IT student who served as an election volunteer. 鈥淲hat happened is a mockery for us.鈥�

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the losing presidential candidates say the same. Two are demanding recounts, alleging fraud, and, in the case of left-wing hopeful Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, calling supporters into the streets for rowdy, defiant marches. 聽

These allegations run contrary to the findings of some 700 international observers who served in Honduras last month. In their official reports, the missions described the elections as largely trouble-free. Experts say such disagreement is typical, as monitoring missions 鈥� which are often composed of professors, lawyers, human rights activists, and college students 鈥� are inclined to look more at the general quality of the election process than ferret out every tiny irregularity.

鈥淎lmost all elections have some problems,鈥� says Susan Hyde, an expert on international election observation missions at Yale University. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a difficult judgment to make.鈥�

But the disputes between the election authority and detractors could exacerbate existing polarization here, building on polemic issues of poor security and economic opportunity. The election authority agreed to hold a recount, but has yet to do so.聽

Fraud ... or sore losers?

Candidates can be loath to accept observers鈥� findings, especially in countries where politics are polarized and democratic institutions are weak, experts say. Elections in war-torn Afghanistan have repeatedly thrust election observers into the spotlight. Venezuela鈥檚 opposition candidate still contests last April鈥檚 presidential election results, despite observers having characterized them as fair. And after Mexico鈥檚 2006 elections, also deemed fair, losing candidate Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador went so far as to set up a parallel government.

The European Union mission鈥檚 report on the Honduran elections, issued within days of the official results, praised both the 鈥渢he transparency of voting鈥� and 鈥渞espect of the will of the voters during the counting process,鈥� despite some irregularities. The Organization of American States鈥� report similarly congratulated Honduras for an organized election and high voter turnout.

Honduran presidential candidate and television personality Salvador Nasralla says he has no faith in the international election monitors.鈥淭here are complaints from a ton of people signifying that the process was not transparent,鈥� he says.

Mr. Nasralla, whose Anti-Corruption Party, or PAC, finished with 14 percent of the vote, has formally demanded a full recount, claiming that 鈥渦nofficial modems鈥� were used to transmit election results. He also says he has evidence of inconsistencies between tally sheets and votes recorded, and of masked men marking paper ballots to accord with official tallies. The real results, he contends, would show him winning.

Meanwhile,聽Ms. Castro, of the newly formed left-wing Libre party, has refused to concede the presidency to Mr. Hern谩ndez. The electoral authority鈥檚 official results give Hern谩ndez 37 percent of the votes, and Castro 29 percent.

In her first appearance since the elections, Castro 鈥� whose husband is deposed former President Manuel Zelaya 鈥� held a press conference to declare the elections a 鈥渄isgusting monstrosity.鈥� Within days thousands of Libre supporters poured into the streets, with Castro and Mr. Zelaya marching alongside the coffin of a Libre activist who they alleged was killed for political reasons just after the election. Police could not confirm that the killing was political.聽 聽

Castro also demanded a recount, and election officials consented to review results from more than 16,000 voting stations with Libre party representatives present. The recount has stalled over disagreements between Libre and elections officials, and on Friday Castro and Zelaya filed a formal complaint demanding the outright annulment of the election results.

Honduras鈥檚 electoral authority is 鈥渄oing the right thing鈥� by helping the parties settle discrepancies in the vote, says Jennifer McCoy, director of the Americas Program at the Carter Center, which sent a small delegation last month in support of the larger EU and OAS missions.

鈥淭he important part that often gets short shrift is the dispute process,鈥� Ms. McCoy says.

What's considered fraud?

The student custodians, however, say that even a full vote-by-vote recount won鈥檛 solve the problems they witnessed. Some say there was voting-credential fraud: smaller parties, which had no chance of winning, sold their credentials to larger parties. This allowed the dominant parties to have extra representatives at tables where ballots were received and counted. Each party should have had only two.

One student custodian held a document signed and stamped by municipal election authorities in the southeastern department of Olancho that attested to voters presenting false IDs, and to people 鈥渙ffering payments outside the voting center.鈥�

Another custodian, sent to Honduras鈥檚 western Lempira department, says one mayor drove through town giving away cement, wood paneling, and bags of beans just before voting commenced.聽聽Other observers have noted discount cards for food, pharmaceuticals, and telephone services being handed out at booths outside voting centers.

Monitors watch for these and other forms of pre-election vote buying, McCoy says. No cell phones were allowed in Honduran polling places, for example, to keep voters from offering parties proof of their vote. But vote buying is nearly impossible to stop, she says, and is not, technically, considered fraud.

鈥淚f someone accepts a benefit,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd then they go in and vote in a truly secret ballot election, then their vote is not bought.鈥�

'More voices'

The election monitoring agencies did cite irregularities in their assessments. The EU鈥檚 report spoke not only of the trade in credentials, but criticized Honduras鈥� election system for its lack of transparency in campaign financing, its unreliable voter registry, and for making it difficult for voters to submit complaints on election day.

Still, the report鈥檚 mention of irregularities didn鈥檛 go far enough for one EU observer, Leo Gabriel of Austria, who broke protocol and in an interview with a Brazilian website Opera Mundi denounced the mission鈥檚 generally positive report. Mr. Gabriel said there was heated debate between observers and EU mission leaders before the report was issued.

The United States and its ambassador may not have helped the situation, says Rosemary Joyce, a Honduras expert at University of California, Berkeley. The US State Department congratulated Honduras on 鈥済enerally transparent鈥� elections when votes were still being tallied.

鈥淲e had more pressure to put [on Honduras] than anybody else,鈥� Ms. Joyce says. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 use it.鈥�

Yet Joyce says that, provided a transparent recount is done, Honduras will likely come out of this election stronger. The congressional gains made by upstart parties like LIBRE and PAC signify a historic shift in political power, as the two traditionally powerful parties, National and Liberal, won鈥檛 control congress anymore. 鈥淵ou will have more voices,鈥� she says.