By Diego Oré and Laura Garcia
TEGUCIGALPA, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Honduras is expected to start a special recount in coming days to resolve tally sheet irregularities, election officials said on Thursday, amid the chaotic aftermath of the still-undecided November 30 presidential election that has thrown the Central American nation into political uncertainty.
Marlon Ochoa, a member of the Honduran National Electoral Council (CNE), told Reuters the special recount is likely to begin on Saturday "but there is no confirmed date yet."
Ochoa's comments came after fellow council member Cossette Lopez-Osorio said in an interview with a local radio station earlier in the day that the recount could begin on Friday.
With more than 99% of ballots counted after 12 days, conservative candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party, the former mayor of capital Tegucigalpa, leads by about 42,000 votes over Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party. Rixi Moncada of the ruling LIBRE party trails far behind in third place.
The special recount will focus on the 2,773 tally sheets - roughly 15% of the total - that have inconsistencies which require further review. These sheets contain enough votes to sway the outcome of the election, heightening political suspense.
"I would expect that in three days we could be releasing the verifications related to the presidential (election)," Lopez-Osorio said.
On Wednesday night, a Honduran congressional panel threatened to reject the results, citing an "electoral coup" and accusing U.S. President Donald Trump of interference after he publicly backed Asfura.
It was unclear what impact the panel's declaration would have on the results, which require approval from two of the three CNE members.
A majority of members must validate the election result by December 30, according to political analysts, otherwise the country's Congress could intervene.
The disorganized and lengthy reporting process of the results has fueled fraud accusations, including by President Xiomara Castro of the LIBRE party, and Nasralla, a 72-year-old television host. Electoral officials have complained about technical problems with the counting system, run by ASD, a private Colombian firm.
Small protests, called mainly by the ruling party, have broken out in Tegucigalpa this week as the prolonged reporting process has heightened tensions in the country, although the streets were calm on Thursday.
The electoral observer mission of the Organization of American States, a multilateral regional body, came out on Wednesday against calls to disrupt public order, saying they were an attempt to "obstruct the course of the final stages of the electoral process."
It reiterated that the CNE should speed up the count but urged authorities, parties, and candidates to await the results.
Washington has said it is closely monitoring the count and warned it would respond to any irregularities swiftly and decisively.
Days before the vote, Trump urged Hondurans to support Asfura, 67, attacked his rivals, and announced he was pardoning former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, of Asfura's National Party. Hernandez was serving a 45-year sentence in the U.S. after being convicted on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Trump's endorsement of Asfura was denounced by Nasralla as having influenced the race.
(Reporting by Laura Garcia and Diego Ore; writing by Cassandra Garrison, Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Nia Williams)
