Calm reigns in Honduras elections amid tight security

Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-27 06:42:11|Editor: yan
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TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Elections in Honduras were happening calmly on Sunday, amid an intense police and military apparatus in place nationwide.

To help maintain security, all businesses were closed for the day, except for supermarkets and malls.

When visiting the capital, Xinhua reporters saw that the city had a heavy police presence along major thoroughfares.

At least 30,000 soldiers and police officers are monitoring the election across the nation, authorities said. By the end of the morning, no security incidents had been reported.

10 political parties are taking part in the elections, but polls only give three candidates with a realistic chance of victory.

The favorite is current president Juan Orlando Hernandez. While the Constitution prohibits presidents from running for re-election, a ruling by the Supreme Court in 2015 opened the possibility of doing so for Hernandez.

In second place, Salvador Nasralla leads an opposition alliance between the Liberty and Refoundation Party and the Innovation and Unity Party.

Finally, Luiz Zelaya, the former dean of the Central American Technological University, is the candidate for the Liberal Party.

In order to guarantee the elections, around 16,000 national observers and over 700 international counterparts are supervising the process. The electoral authorities set to begin providing official results in the evening.

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