Dec 30 (Reuters) - Honduran presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla has formally challenged the results of the country's recent election, the latest twist in a closely contested race that was beset by delays, technical problems and fraud allegations.
Nasralla finished second to conservative candidate Nasry Asfura, who was backed by U.S. President Donald Trump and was declared the winner on Christmas Eve, more than three weeks after the November 30 election.
Less than 1% of votes separated the two candidates, according to the CNE, Honduras' electoral authority.
Nasralla's legal team filed an appeal with Honduras' Electoral Justice Tribunal (TJE) on Monday, prompting the tribunal to issue a resolution late on Monday evening calling for additional documentation before it decides whether to admit the challenge.
"There have been too many inconsistencies in this electoral process," Nasralla's lawyer Karla Romero said on Monday night, asserting that in many departments of the country, votes for Asfura had been "inflated."
Nasralla's lawyers have not made evidence of fraud presented in the appeal publicly available and Asfura's party has denied Nasralla's accusations of fraud.
Nasralla, a centrist who has unsuccessfullyrun for president twice before, is seeking a comprehensive review and recount of presidential ballots in at least 12 of Honduras' 18 departments.
The TJE has set a 48-hour deadline for the CNE to submit paperwork pertaining to the recount requests.
The challenge unfolds amid heightened political tension and public mistrust in the electoral process.
Honduras' Attorney General Johel Zelaya also spoke out about the electoral process on Tuesday, warning of upcoming legal action and that a precedent would be set "so shameful practices that undermine democracy and rule of law are not repeated."
Nasralla, who also disputed his loss in the 2017 general election, rejected the CNE's declaration of Asfura's victory last week, saying the electoral authority had excluded ballots that should have been counted.
The head of the Honduran Congress, from the ruling Libre party, hasalso rejected the results. Libre supporters demonstrated outside the CNE headquarters in Tegucigalpa on Monday.
Asfura is due to take office on January 27 for the 2026-2030 term.
(Reporting by Laura Garcia and Marvin Valladares, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Michael Perry)
