Sanctions urged for those responsible for blocking Honduran citizens in U.S. from voting

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The 15 de Septiembre Foundation on Tuesday (10) called on the U.S. Government to sanction those responsible for leaving Hondurans living abroad “with no possibility” of voting in this year’s elections, considered discriminatory and anti-democratic.

“In 2021 there will be a setback in democracy because there will be no vote abroad,” said Juan Flores, president of the Septiembre 15 Foundation, urging the U.S. Department of State to punish the commissioners of the Honduran National Register of Persons with visa revocations for this reason.

Based in Broward County (southeast Florida) and comprised of Hondurans, the foundation stresses that for almost 2 years it has been making unsuccessful representations to the Honduran authorities so that the emigrant community abroad is granted the required identification to vote on November 28.

Without this identification, the migrant community, which currently represents over 20% of the total population of Honduras, or over 2 million citizens, is unable to exercise a right established in the Constitution of the Republic, it added.

Honduras will hold general elections on November 28, in which a president, 3 vice presidents, 298 municipal mayors, 128 deputies to the local Parliament and 20 to the Central American Parliament will be elected.

The foundation recalls that the Honduran National Register of Persons (RNP) signed an agreement with the United Nations Program (UNDP) in which “it is clearly established that it will only document persons who are based in Honduran territory.”

“This decision, which sidelines its constitutional mission of documenting all Hondurans, discriminates against the migrant community despite the fact that it contributes US$7 billion, 23% of the nation’s gross domestic product,” it stressed.

The foundation said it has already denounced “this string of abuses, violation of constitutional rights, violation of human rights and obstruction of democracy” to the U.S. Department of State, and is now urging it to sanction those responsible.

“We will continue to denounce other political actors who make decisions on behalf of migrants, which benefits political institutions rather than the Honduran migrant population,” it added.

The deadline to register in the national electoral census – required to vote in the elections called for November 28 in Honduras – expires on September 5.