General elections were held in Honduras to elect the

President of Honduras The president of Honduras ( es, Presidente de Honduras) officially known as the President of the Republic of Honduras (Spanish: ''Presidente de la República de Honduras''), is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, and the Com ...

, 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 Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

was also changed from a closed list to an

open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, par ...

- the parties also used open-list

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

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 The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

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.U.C. San Diego Library ''Latin American election results''
. Retrieved 2009.

Campaign

There were five presidential candidates;

Carlos Sosa Coello Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

(

Innovation and Unity Party The Innovation and Unity Party—Social Democracy ( es, Partido Innovación y Unidad Social Demócrata, PINU-SD) is a social democratic political party in Honduras, established in 1970. PINU was created by Miguel Andonie Fernández as a democr ...

Porfirio Pepe Lobo Porfirio Lobo Sosa (born 22 December 1947), known as Pepe Lobo, is a Honduran politician and agricultural landowner who served as President of Honduras from 2010 to 2014. A member of the conservative National Party and a former deputy in the ...

(National Party),

Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya/ref> is a Honduran politician who was President of Honduras from 27 January 2006 until 28 June 2009, and who since January 2022 serves as the first Fir ...

(Liberal Party), Juan Almendares ( Democratic Unification Party) and Juan Ramón Martínez (

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

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."Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson (2007), "Presidential and congressional elections in Honduras, November 2005", ''Electoral Studies'', 26 (2), pp 521-524 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.

References

{{Honduran elections Honduras Elections in Honduras 2005 in Honduras Presidential elections in Honduras November 2005 events in North America