Misplaced Pages

2005 Honduran general election

← 2001 27 November 2005 2009 →
Turnout	55.08% ( 11.19pp)
Presidential election
Nominee Manuel Zelaya Porfirio Lobo Sosa Party Liberal National Running mate Elvin Santos Mario Canahuati Popular vote 999,006 925,243 Percentage 49.90% 46.22%
Results by department Results by municipalityZelaya:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Tie:      40–50% Lobo:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
President before election Ricardo Maduro National Elected President Manuel Zelaya Liberal
Parliamentary election
All 128 seats in the National Congress 65 seats needed for a majority
Party Vote % Seats +/– Liberal 44.84 62 +7 National 40.42 55 −6 UD 5.67 5 0 PINU 4.66 2 −2 CD 4.40 4 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. President of the Congress before President of the Congress after Porfirio Lobo Sosa National Roberto Micheletti Liberal

Politics of Honduras
Constitution Law 2009 constitutional crisis 2009 coup d'état Gun politics Human rights LGBT rights
Executive President Xiomara Castro Vice Presidents Doris Gutiérrez Renato Florentino Ministries
Legislative National Congress President: Luis Redondo
Judiciary Supreme Court National Electoral Council
Administrative divisions Departments Municipalities
Elections Ley de Lemas voting system Recent elections General: 2017 2021 2025
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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Eduardo Enrique Reina Diplomatic missions of / in Honduras Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Other countries
v t e

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.

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.

Campaign

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).

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."

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.

Results

President

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.

By department

National Congress

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

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberal Party	7,746,806	44.84	62	+7
	National Party	6,983,056	40.42	55	–6
	Democratic Unification Party	979,480	5.67	5	0
	Innovation and Unity Party	805,413	4.66	2	–2
	Christian Democratic Party	760,161	4.40	4	+1
Total		17,274,916	100.00	128	0
Valid votes		2,001,908	91.39
Invalid/blank votes		188,490	8.61
Total votes		2,190,398	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,977,073	55.08
Source: PDBA, IPU, Election Passport

References

1. ^ Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson (2007), "Presidential and congressional elections in Honduras, November 2005", Electoral Studies, 26 (2), pp 521-524
2. U.C. San Diego Library Latin American election results Archived 2009-07-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2009.

v t e Elections in Honduras
Presidential elections	1852 1856 1860 1864 1866 1869 1874 1877 1881 1883 1887 1891 1893 1894 1898 1902 1911 1915 1919 1923 1924 1928 1932 1948 1954 1971 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Legislative elections	1838 1847 1877 1880 1894 1898 1902 1908 1911 1915 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 2017 2021 2025
Local elections	1922 1927 1931 1932 1933 1935 1936 1943 1945 1950 1952 1953 1954 1957 1962 1968 1971 1976 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
Referendums	1870
See also: Elections in the Federal Republic of Central America

• 2005 elections in Central America
• Elections in Honduras
• 2005 in Honduras
• Presidential elections in Honduras
• November 2005 events in North America