2005 Honduran general election

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]

2005 Honduran general election
27 November 2005
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%
Zelaya:      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 % 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
President of the Congress before President of the Congress after
Porfirio Lobo Sosa
National		 Roberto Micheletti
Liberal
Politics of Honduras
Executive
Legislative
Judiciary
Administrative divisions
Elections
Political parties
Foreign relations
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Minister: Eduardo Enrique Reina

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]

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."[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

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.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Manuel ZelayaLiberal Party999,00649.90
Porfirio Lobo SosaNational Party925,24346.22
Juan Ángel Almendares BonillaDemocratic Unification Party29,7541.49
Juan Ramón MartínezChristian Democratic Party27,8121.39
Carlos Sosa CoelloInnovation and Unity Party20,0931.00
Total2,001,908100.00
Valid votes2,001,90891.39
Invalid/blank votes188,4908.61
Total votes2,190,398100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,976,55055.08
Source: TSE

By department
Department Zelaya Lobo Sosa Almendares Martínez Sosa Coello
Votes  % Votes  % Votes  % Votes  % Votes  %
Atlántida 39,136 49.2% 37,661 47.3% 919 1.2% 740 0.9% 1,116 1.4%
Bay Islands 5,738 50.0% 5,568 48.6% 40 0.4% 71 0.6% 51 0.4%
Choluteca 57,273 46.5% 62,941 51.1% 732 0.6% 1,426 1.2% 819 0.7%
Colón 31,564 56.0% 22,764 40.4% 1,474 2.6% 371 0.7% 232 0.4%
Comayagua 52,288 52.1% 45,238 45.0% 1,137 1.1% 974 1.0% 795 0.8%
Copán 45,007 50.9% 41,166 46.6% 756 0.9% 773 0.9% 692 0.8%
Cortés 139,848 51.4% 116,169 42.7% 5,585 2.1% 5,599 2.1% 4,946 1.8%
El Paraíso 65,110 56.0% 48,975 42.1% 928 0.8% 805 0.7% 539 0.5%
Francisco Morazán 165,553 44.7% 182,637 49.3% 8,442 2.3% 8,554 2.3% 5,628 1.5%
Gracias a Dios 6,868 59.3% 4,196 36.2% 173 1.5% 260 2.3% 83 0.7%
Intibucá 25,724 45.3% 28,637 50.4% 943 1.7% 1,032 1.8% 488 0.9%
La Paz 23,575 52.1% 19,939 44.1% 812 1.8% 533 1.2% 357 0.8%
Lempira 30,458 46.7% 33,416 51.2% 384 0.6% 594 0.9% 371 0.6%
Ocotepeque 21,411 53.8% 17,388 43.7% 250 0.6% 416 1.1% 335 0.8%
Olancho 63,498 51.5% 57,636 46.7% 833 0.7% 839 0.7% 527 0.4%
Santa Bárbara 60,279 51.7% 53,263 45.7% 1,586 1.4% 873 0.8% 519 0.5%
Valle 25,990 50.5% 24,302 47.2% 354 0.7% 691 1.3% 172 0.3%
Yoro 55,554 53.2% 44,392 42.5% 2,377 2.3% 1,159 1.1% 1,003 1.0%
Source: Adam Carr

National Congress

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

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Party7,746,80644.8462+7
National Party6,983,05640.4255–6
Democratic Unification Party979,4805.6750
Innovation and Unity Party805,4134.662–2
Christian Democratic Party760,1614.404+1
Total17,274,916100.001280
Valid votes2,001,90891.39
Invalid/blank votes188,4908.61
Total votes2,190,398100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,977,07355.08
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.
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