Honduran general election, 2005

Honduran general election, 2005

November 27, 2005

Nominee Manuel Zelaya Porfirio Lobo Sosa Party Liberal Party National Party Running mate Elvin Santos Mario Canahuati Popular vote 999,006 925,243 Percentage 45.6% 42.2%

President before election Ricardo Maduro National Party Elected President Manuel Zelaya Liberal Party

General elections were held in Honduras to elect the President of Honduras, Vice-President, and deputies to the National Congress of Honduras on 27 November 2005. For the 2005 election the constitution was amended to create a single vice-president (Hondurans previously elected three 'presidential designates' on a ticket along with the presidential candidate). For the 2005 election the system of proportional representation was also changed from a closed list to an open list - the parties also used open-list primaries to select candidate slates. The list system reduced the re-election rate of incumbents, with just 31% of deputies in the new Congress having seats in the 2002–2006 Congress.^[1]

Primaries

Primary elections (internal party elections) were held for the first time in Honduras in this election, in February 2005. Only the Liberal Party and National Party participated in these elections, since the smaller parties lack significant factions. They were supervised by the official electoral body, and the 72-hour ban on the sale of alcohol which accompanies all official elections was also imposed over that weekend. 45% of the electorate voted in the primaries: 24% for the Liberals and 21% for the National Party. According to the Country Report quoted in the U.C. San Diego Library Latin American election results, "The low participation rate in the primaries . . . is a reflection of the lack of public faith in Honduras's political institutions and leaders." The electoral law requirement that women comprise at least 30% of candidates was not fulfilled by any faction in the primaries.^[2]

Honduras
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Honduras
Constitution Law 2009 constitutional crisis 2009 coup d'état Gun politics Human rights LGBT rights
Executive President (list) Juan Orlando Hernández Vice President Ricardo Álvarez
Legislative National Congress President: Mauricio Oliva
Judiciary Supreme Court Supreme Electoral Tribunal
Administrative divisions Departments Municipalities
Elections Ley de Lemas voting system Recent elections General: 2005 2009 2013
Political parties National Party Liberal Party Democratic Unification Party Christian Democratic Party Innovation and Unity Party FAPER Liberty and Refoundation ("Libre") Patriotic Alliance Anti-Corruption Party
Foreign relations
Other countries Atlas

Presidential election

There were five presidential candidates; Carlos Sosa Coello (Innovation and Unity Party), Porfirio Pepe Lobo (National Party), Manuel Zelaya (Liberal Party), Juan Almendares (Democratic Unification Party) and Juan Ramón Martínez (Christian Democrats).

Campaign

Porfirio Pepe Lobo led by a wide margin for much of the campaign. "However, as the contest got dirtier, Zelaya — who was on the receiving end of more of the negative campaigning (portraying him as corrupt and incapable of running the country) — benefited from popular support for the underdog."^[1]

Analyses after the election concluded that many National Party supporters stayed at home, confident of Lobo's victory, while the Liberal Party got its supporters to the polls.^[1]

Results

Presidential election results by department: Blue = National Party, Red = Liberal Party

According to an exit poll published by a local TV channel, Zelaya was ahead by 50.6 percent, against Lobo's 44.3%. However, Lobo, the National Party candidate did not accept the result of the election, arguing that the figures his own party had actually put him ahead in the race. The National Party had asked for a vote recount, accusing the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the country's top electoral authority, of having committed gross errors in the process and 48 hours later had not allegedly still not produced any official results. Finally, after 10 days of waiting the National Party conceded the elections to Manuel Zelaya, the Liberal Party candidate and now, the president elect.

Parliamentary election

Zelaya's Liberal Party also emerged victorious in the parliamentary election, taking 62 of the 128 seats.

Results

References

Elections in Honduras
Presidential elections	1848 1856 1860 1864 1866 1869 1875 1877 1880 1883 1887 1894 1894 1898 1902 1911 1916 1919 1923 1924 1928 1932 1936 1939 1948 1954 1957 1963 1965 1971 1980 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013
Parliamentary elections	1838 1847 1848 1856 1860 1864 1866 1869 1875 1877 1880 1883 1887 1894 1894 1898 1902 1908 1911 1916 1919 1922 1923 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1942 1948 1954 1956 1957 1963 1965 1971 1980 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013
Referendums	1870
See also: Elections in the Federal Republic of Central America