2013 Honduran general election

This is the first election to be contested by the opposition since the controversial and polarising 2009 Honduran coup d'état. The social mobilization since then led to the founding of the main opposition party, Libre.[2]

Key electoral issues have been citizen security, organized crime, unemployment, and corruption.[8] One of the main components of Hernández's campaign is his promise to put "a soldier on every corner."[9] For her part, Castro has emphasized the need for community policing and secure borders.[10]

Honduran elections have historically been marred by fraud,[20][21][22] and polls leading up to the elections found that 59% of Hondurans believe the elections would be fraudulent.[23] However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has stated that these would be the most clean and fair elections in Honduras's history, and both the traditionally dominant parties – the National and Liberal parties – agree.[24] The newly formed Libre Party and Anti-Corruption Party fear that there would be fraud, a position backed by the Carter Center.[24] Anti-Corruption Party candidate Salvador Nasralla publicly denounced attempts at vote-buying by the National Party across the country.[25] Nasralla highlighted National Party control of key government institutions like the Public Ministry and the Supreme Court.[25] Dana Frank, writing in The Nation, echoed these concerns, noting National Party candidate Hernández's participation in both the illegal naming of a new attorney general in August 2013 and the illegal destitution of four Supreme Court judges in December 2012,[9] the latter of which ultimately resulted in Hernández securing his party's nomination for the presidency.[20]

The TSE has stated that over 700 international election observers, representing various governments and organizations, including the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the European Union, and the Carter Center, will be present to monitor the elections.[26] In the days before the election, international observers in the department of Yoro and in the capital Tegucigalpa reported targeted harassment and intimidation on the part of immigration officials and unidentified armed men.[27] The TSE confirmed these reports and ordered the Honduran immigration authorities to stop all of these types of operations concerning election observers.[28]

Juan Orlando Hernández was announced as the winner in a result the Supreme Electoral Tribunal's head, David Matamoros, called "irreversible",[29] this followed initial claims by both leading candidates of having won. While opposition protests continued, Hernández said the result was "not negotiable with anybody" and named a transition team.[29]

However, Castro and Nasralla disputed the results.[30] Castro called on her supporters to hold a protest on Saturday 30 November.[31]

According to the North American Congress on Latin America, the elections were "fraught with irregularities and violent intimidation, threatening to throw the embattled nation into further political disarray."[32] However, observers from the Organization of American States and the United Nations declared that the elections met international standards and were both free and fair.[33]

• Parliamentary candidates in the 2013 Honduran general election
•  Honduras portal