Rev. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap
Executive Director, ASJ-US
Welcome Message/ Justicia Winter 2026
February 19, 2026
Words from the Executive Director
Dear Friend,
In November, I had the privilege to travel with ASJ supporters from the US and Canada to Tegucigalpa as a team of international election observers. The experience was profound. I’ve been sharing about it with anyone who will listen ever since. One of the most common questions I get is, “Were the results legitimate?” After I answer with an emphatic, “Yes!”, there is the inevitable follow-up, “How do you know?”
It’s a good question. And I have a good answer.
ASJ coordinated several critical efforts around the election in November, from supporting the Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy that brought over 300,000 people into the streets last August to recruiting over 12,000 volunteer election observers to cover 85% of all polling stations across the country on Election Day. Something else ASJ and our partners were engaged in before, during, and after the election was our work to implement the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT), or “quick count”, methodology to verify the official results.
At its simplest, PRVT identifies a statistically representative sampling of polling sites across the country. In the case of Honduras, this was 1,004 locations–from bustling urban centers to bucolic rural villages. Election observers in these sites receive intensive training, and are stationed there from before the site opens to after the results are announced. Once results are finalized (in Honduras, election workers call out each vote verbally and all citizens and observers are allowed to watch), the observers submit these results to a centralized location. In our case, observers at these polling locations sent results to the ASJ office. These were then analyzed and used to predict what the final outcome should be, all within a vanishingly small margin of error.
This method shouldn’t sound all that new. It’s exactly what the Associated Press does to project the winners of US elections. It has been used over 170 times in over 50 different countries, including in Venezuela in 2024 when civil society proved through the use of this method that Nicolas Maduro lost 2 votes to 1.
When we projected the final results based on our data, they mapped almost perfectly onto the official result announced by Honduras’ National Electoral Council. The vote was free and fair, and we could prove that the results were legitimate.
This story is just one of so many reasons why I love the work of ASJ. In a world where trust in electoral outcomes is plummeting, including and especially here in the US, truth feels negotiable. This PRVT project, though, proves otherwise. Data doesn’t lie. Objective truth is real and regular people like you and me have the tools to uncover and proclaim it.
Justice needs truth. May we all have the courage to uncover and proclaim it.
Onward,
READ MORE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE OF JUSTICIA
An International Observer's Experience
Read MoreA Reflection from ASJ-Canada Board President, Matt Van Geest.
Canadians went to the polls in 2025 in an election that, for most of us, was over in the time it takes to grab a coffee. For me, I showed my ID, marked my ballot in private, dropped it in the box, and headed home, all within 5 minutes. Results arrived before bedtime. Democracy in Canada has always felt, to me, efficient, orderly, and secure. In late November, I was in Honduras as part of an international delegation observing that country’s national elections. The contrast was striking, and instructive. If you want to understand the fragility of democracy, sometimes you need to leave home.
A Honduran Celebration
Read MoreHow Hondurans Live Out the Joy of Democratic Participation.
by Ernesto Cortés
In the months leading up to the presidential election in Honduras, there was an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty. The media frequently broadcast news stories that suggested public institutions were being exploited for partisan purposes. There was strong polarization between political parties, fake news, attacks and hate speech against candidates. In this context of democratic crisis, I signed up to be an observer with the Network for the Defense of Democracy (RDD)—a civil society alliance led by ASJ—because I believed that only by participating actively and consciously could I contribute to building a more just society for all Hondurans.
A New Beginning for Education
Read MoreA Spotlight on Our Dedicated Volunteers.
The first week of February is when, ideally, Honduran schools should welcome students to the classrooms. However, this has only happened a handful of times. Honduran law also requires schools to provide at least 200 days of classroom instruction. This has also only happened a handful of times.
A Spotlight On Our Dedicated Volunteers
How Hondurans Live Out The Joy of Democratic Participation
A Reflection from ASJ-Canada Board President, Matt Van Geest
Thirsty For Justice
Hondurans cast their ballots during the November 30, 2025, general election, which saw historic voter turnout and a peaceful process supported by more than 12,000 national and international election observers working to safeguard transparency.
ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People, Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US
A call to action for Honduras
The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025
Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections
Dear friend, I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.
