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NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > HONDURAS TENSE AS ELECTION TESTS MATH SKILLS
HONDURAS TENSE AS ELECTION TESTS MATH SKILLS
November 30 2009
Tegucigalpa, Honduras – It has been a very testing few years for the people of Honduras. In 2008 massive floods devastated the country, washing out roads and homes. Earlier this year a coup attempt led to the expulsion of the President and 
made the country the centre of the world’s attention for a brief moment. That attention has brought new light to life in the country where most people live on less than two dollars a day and where women’s rights are significantly behind those of many of their neighbouring countries. Suffice it to say many people in the country are looking forward to a better 2010.
Of course 2009 isn’t quite over yet and there are still challenges ahead for the people of the country, challenges that might be the most treacherous yet. That challenge come in the body of a fresh election which many hope will sort out some of the drama that occurred over the summer. An election though brings its own challenges though which have put the people of the country on edge. Nearly 30,000 soldiers have been put on alert throughout the country amidst concerns of violence, and more than 10,000 calculators have been imported into the country with hopes that counting will not become a major issue.
“We are very aware that the world is watching these elections and that there are very important to the people of Honduras and because of that put the utmost effort into ensuring a safe and accurate vote. Security at all polling places was dramatically increased and calculators were issued to all counters,” said a spokesperson for the election oversight committee. “We went to great expense to bring these calculating machines into the country but we feel that the end result will be well worth the cost. We could not afford a situation where we had a disputed election, not with the problems that we had earlier this year, and we had to make sure that all votes were counted and counted properly.”
Officials also noted that counters placed counted votes in a separate box to ensure that ballots would not be counted twice.
“Traditionally math has not been the strongest of areas for Honduras, either the government or the people of the country which makes issues like elections very difficult. That’s was part of the reason for the coup in the first place. Zelaya brought the ouster on himself by trying to change the constitution in manner that would require all new levels of math that people in the country are simply not capable of. Now of course they are being faced with it again,” said Scrape TV South American analyst Walter Pereira. “Luckily they were able to secure all of these calculators which helped to remove a lot of the human error concerns and a lot of the stress that would inevitably be placed on the counters. Unfortunately they are not mentioning that a great deal of the calculators were scientific which has further confused counters and caused issues at more than a few polling stations.”
The additional buttons on a scientific calculator is cited as the main reason for the confusion.
“That may bring concerns and even possible legal challenges to the election results but at least they will have established a new protocol that will allow future elections to go a little more smoothly. Perhaps in another four years they will be able to purchase even more calculators which could help ensure accurate results,” continued Pereira. “Of course they will also have to bring people in from other countries to give lessons on how to use them properly but that will come with time. Finally though they are starting to realize that basic mathematics that are essential to a positive election result.”
Honduran officials denied claims that many counters were continuing to use fingers and toes despite widespread reports.
Emil Uliya, International Correspondent
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