Ruling party says 300 lawyers will fight irregularities in Honduran election

Honduras' ruling party said it has 300 lawyers who will analyze the final results of the country's presidential election for evidence of fraud or irregularities.

Four days after Sunday's vote, officials were still counting results to determine the winner of the disputed race, although the president of the electoral tribunal declared Zelaya the winner on Monday.

With nearly 80 percent of the vote counted Thursday, opposition Liberal Party candidate Manuel Zelaya had 49.7 percent compared to 46.2 percent for ruling National Party candidate Porfirio Lobo Sosa. He also said some polling places received more votes than they had registered voters, and called on the 114 observers from the Organization of American States to investigate. The OAS said earlier that the vote was held without any major problems, but observers promised to stay in Honduras until a winner was declared.

Aristides Mejia, president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and a member of the Liberal Party, said he didn't believe there were any irregularities. The spokesman for the opposition Liberal Party, Jorge Arturo Reina, said his party wasn't responsible for any possible irregularities. Reina, who Zelaya has said would be his foreign minister, called on the ruling party to concede defeat.

Electoral officials said computer problems have delayed the final results of the race, the AP reports. President Ricardo Maduro is prohibited by law from seeking re-election. A.M.