Overview
- Asfura was certified with 40.27% of the vote to Salvador Nasralla’s 39.53%, returning the National Party to the presidency on January 27, 2026.
- Two CNE councilors and a substitute issued the declaration after a special review of 2,792 tally sheets, with authorities saying 98.27% of actas were consistent and 333 still showed irregularities.
- Rival campaigns—Nasralla’s Liberal Party and the ruling Libre—reject the result and plan legal challenges, while congressional leader Luis Redondo called the declaration invalid.
- System failures forced manual counting of roughly 15% of tally sheets, extending the process for 24 days and intensifying disputes over transparency and pressure on election officials.
- International reactions were mixed: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and several governments congratulated Asfura, the EU signaled readiness to work with him, and the OAS noted the count was not fully completed.