2021 Honduran general election

General elections were held in Honduras on 28 November 2021. Among the positions being contested was the President of Honduras, head of state and head of government of Honduras, to replace Juan Orlando Hernández from the National Party. Also up for election were the 128 deputies of the National Congress, 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament, 298 mayors and 298 vice mayors, as well as 2,092 council members.

2021 Honduran general election

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Registered	5,182,425
Presidential election
Turnout	69.09% ( 11.60pp)
Nominee Xiomara Castro Nasry Asfura Yani Rosenthal Party Libre National Liberal Running mate Salvador Nasralla Mireya Agüero Yadira Bendaña Popular vote 1,716,793 1,240,260 335,762 Percentage 51.12% 36.93% 10.00%
Results by department Results by municipality Castro:      <40%      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Asfura:      <40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Rosenthal:      <40%
President before election Juan Orlando Hernández National Elected President Xiomara Castro Libre
Parliamentary election
All 128 seats in the National Congress 65 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Libre Manuel Zelaya 40.23 50 +20 National David Chávez 30.18 44 −17 PSH Salvador Nasralla 12.73 10 New Liberal Yani Rosenthal 11.14 22 −4 CD Marco Antonio Reyes 0.96 1 0 PAC Marlene Alvarenga 0.79 1 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results of the congressional election President of the Congress before President of the Congress after Mauricio Oliva National Luis Redondo PSH

Following the election, Nasry Asfura of the National Party and Xiomara Castro of Libre both declared victory as votes were being counted. On 30 November 2021, Asfura and the National Party conceded to Castro. Castro's win made her the first female president-elect of Honduras, the person with the most votes obtained in the history of Honduras, and ended 12 years of conservative National Party rule. She also became the first President elected from a party other than the National Party, Liberal Party, or their predecessors.

Background

Incumbent president Juan Orlando Hernández was first elected in 2013 after defeating Xiomara Castro, and re-elected in 2017 after orchestrating an amendment to Constitution of Honduras to allow for his reelection.^[1] There were large protests against Hernandez following the 2017 elections,^[2] which the OAS stated contained numerous irregularities.

Electoral system

The President of Honduras is elected by plurality, with the candidate receiving the most votes in a single round of voting declared the winner.^[3]

The 128 members of the National Congress are elected by open list proportional representation from 18 multi-member constituencies based on the departments ranging in size from one to 23 seats.^[4] Seats are allocated using the Hare quota.^[4] Each voter can cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled in the district. Votes are cast for individual candidates.

Primary elections

Party primaries were held on 14 March 2021 to elect which candidates would represent each party.^[5]

Movements		Candidates	Votes	Total	Map
National Party (PNH)
	Unity and Hope	Nasry Asfura	681,701 (70.12%)	Valid votes: 972,139 Invalid votes: 86,369 Blank Votes: 108,791 Total: 1,167,299 (46.53%)	Nasry Asfura 80%-90%      Nasry Asfura 70%-80%      Nasry Asfura 60%-70%      Nasry Asfura 50%-60%      Mauricio Oliva 50%-60%
	Together We Can	Mauricio Oliva	290,438 (29.88%)
Liberal Party (PLH)
	Yanista Movement	Yani Rosenthal	339,001 (49.97%)	Valid votes: 678,370 Invalid votes: 41,460 Blank Votes: 58,867 Total: 778,697 (31.04%)	Yani Rosenthal 70%-80%      Yani Rosenthal 60%-70%      Yani Rosenthal 50%-60%      Yani Rosenthal 40%-50%      Luis Zelaya 60%-70%      Luis Zelaya 50%-60%      Luis Zelaya 30%-40%      Dario Banegas 30%-40%
	Recover Honduras	Luis Zelaya	230,242 (33.94%)
	The Hope of Honduras	Darío Banegas	109,127 (16.09%)
Liberty and Refoundation (Libre)
	Somos+	Xiomara Castro	404,238 (79.08%)	Valid votes: 511,201 Invalid votes: 26,123 Blank Votes: 25,106 Total: 562,430 (22.43%)	Xiomara Castro >90%      Xiomara Castro 80%-90%      Xiomara Castro 70%-80%      Xiomara Castro 60%-70%
	M-28 Power for You
	Popular Refoundation Force FRP
	People Organized in Resistance POR
	Free People
	AAAMEL
	5 July Movement	Nelson Ávila	58,995 (11.54%)
	Nueva Corriente	Carlos Eduardo Reina	25,368 (4.96%)
	Free Honduras	Wilfredo Méndez	22,600 (4.42%)
Total				2,508,426 (100.00%)
Source: National Electoral Council

Candidates

Nasry Asfura

Nasry Asfura is the current mayor of Honduras's capital, Tegucigalpa, and a member of the ruling right-wing National Party of Honduras.^[5] During the campaign, Asfura distanced himself from former President Juan Orlando Hernandez's alleged involvement within drug trafficking schemes engaged by his brother. Asfura is known by his supporters as "Papi a la orden" or "Daddy at your service."^[6]

Asfura prioritized upgrades to infrastructure and job creation. In addition, Asfura pledged support towards the business, health, education, and manufacturing sectors.^[6]

Xiomara Castro

Xiomara Castro, the First Lady of Honduras from 2006 to 2009, was the presidential candidate for the left-wing Liberty and Refoundation (Libre) party in the 2013 general election, finishing in second place. She founded the party with her husband Manuel Zelaya after he was deposed in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état.^[5]

Her thirty-point campaign platform includes a referendum on a new constitution, the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, the creation of a UN-backed anti-corruption commission modeled on the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and advancing women's rights. On economic issues, she opposes the ZEDES semi-autonomous free trade zones promoted by Juan Orlando Hernández and supports social programs to fight poverty while maintaining good relations with the private sector. She also proposes the reform of the Security, Defense, Coalition, and Secrecy Laws.^[7][8]

Yani Rosenthal

Yani Rosenthal is a longtime member of the centrist Liberal Party of Honduras. He is a businessman and was sentenced to three years in a US prison for laundering drug money, being released in 2020 just in time to begin his presidential campaign.^[5]

Withdrawn candidates

• Milton Benítez, independent candidate who withdrew to support Xiomara Castro^[9]
• Salvador Nasralla, a candidate in 2013 and 2017, was planning to run as the candidate of the Savior Party of Honduras,^[5] but withdrew from the election on 13 October to become Castro's running mate.^[10]
• Santos Rodriguez Orellana, independent candidate who was arrested under drug trafficking and homicide charges.^[11]

Opinion polls

Pollster	Date	Sample size	Nasry Asfura	Xiomara Castro	Salvador Nasralla	Yani Rosenthal	Other	Undecided/ abstention
2021 election	28 November 2021	—	36.4	50.6	—	10.0	3.0	—
LeVote[12]	Exit-Poll	—	35.1	50.5	—	12.0	2.4	—
TResearch[13]	22–25 November 2021	1,000	28.2	42.9	—	4.0	2.9	22.1
Paradigma[14]	14–26 October 2021	3,463	27.7	25.7	—	6.6	2	38
CESPAD	14–20 October 2021	1,726	21	38	—	3	5	33
Nasralla withdrew on 13 October 2021
Paradigma[15]	30 September 2021	3,355	22.7	18.7	10.1	5.5	2.7	40.3
CID-Gallup[16]	10 September 2021	1,288	21	18	18	13	2	28
TResearch[17]	8–9 September 2021	1,000	30.9	31.8	15.8	9.3	2.2	9.9
Paradigma[18]	11–26 August 2021	4,446	15.0	13.8	7.5	4.8	0.6	58.5
Paradigma[19]	28 June–13 July 2021	3,003	12.4	12.9	7.1	6.1	1.3	60.2
CESPAD[20]	13 April–7 May 2021	1,888	14.9	11.7	7.9	6.6	7.6	51.1
Primary elections held on 14 March 2021
C&E Research[21]	2 March 2021	600	14.2	13.8	15.5	14.1	—	42.4

Results

Both Asfura and Castro declared victory on election night as votes continued to be counted.^[22] On 30 November 2021, Asfura's National Party conceded defeat to Castro.^[23] Asfura announced in a statement that he met with Castro and her family to congratulate her win.^[24]

Castro's victory marked the end of 12 years of National Party control of the presidency, following the constitutional crisis and the subsequent coup d'état that ousted Castro's husband in 2009. Castro is the first female president of Honduras.^[24]

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Xiomara Castro	Liberty and Refoundation	1,716,793	51.12
	Nasry Asfura	National Party	1,240,260	36.93
	Yani Rosenthal	Liberal Party	335,762	10.00
	Milton Benítez	Humane Honduras	8,857	0.26
	Carlos Mauricio Portillo	Christian Democratic Party	7,103	0.21
	Romeo Vásquez Velásquez	Honduran Patriotic Alliance	6,556	0.20
	Kelin Pérez Gómez	Broad Front	6,053	0.18
	Esdras Amado López	New Route	5,911	0.18
	Alexander Mira	Savior Party of Honduras	5,711	0.17
	Marlon Escoto	We are all Honduras	5,382	0.16
	Alfonso Díaz Narváez	Democratic Unification Party	5,081	0.15
	Julio Lopéz Casaca	Anti-Corruption Party	4,181	0.12
	José Coto García	Go-Solidary Movement	3,768	0.11
	Lempira Cuauhtemoc Viana	Democratic Liberation Party	3,361	0.10
	Santos Orlando Rodriguez Orellana	Independent Movement Dignity and Hope	3,274	0.10
Total			3,358,053	100.00
Valid votes			3,358,053	93.79
Invalid votes			142,495	3.98
Blank votes			79,979	2.23
Total votes			3,580,527	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			5,182,425	69.09
Source: CNE

National Congress

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberty and Refoundation	12,758,098	40.23	50	20
	National Party	9,573,029	30.18	44	17
	Savior Party of Honduras	4,035,970	12.73	10	New
	Liberal Party	3,531,887	11.14	22	5
	Innovation and Unity Party	335,227	1.06	0	4
	Christian Democratic Party	305,538	0.96	1	–
	Anti-Corruption Party	251,196	0.79	1	–
	Honduran Patriotic Alliance	227,940	0.72	0	4
	Democratic Unification Party	160,510	0.51	0	1
	Go-Solidary Movement	147,911	0.47	0	New
	New Route	114,898	0.36	0	New
	We Are All Honduras	112,196	0.35	0	New
	Democratic Liberation Party	95,754	0.30	0	New
	Broad Front	65,113	0.21	0	–
Total		31,715,267	100.00	128	–
Registered voters/turnout		5,167,105	–
Source: CNE

Parlacen

Party		Seats
	Liberty and Refoundation	10
	National Party	8
	Liberal Party	2
Total		20
Source: CNE

Municipal Level

Political Party or Alliance[n 1]	Votes	%	Municipalities	+/–	Councilors [n 2]
National Party	1,101,599	32.96%	143 / 298	31	946 / 2,128
Alliance UD-PNH[n 3]	157,842	4.73%	0 / 1	-	4 / 10
Liberal Party	872,558	26.11%	91 / 298	2	615 / 2,070
Liberty and Refoundation	966,869	28.93%	50 / 298	19	456 / 2,066
Alliance PLH-Libre[n 4]	43,840	1.31%	7 / 10	-	42 / 72
Savior Party of Honduras	53,480	1.60%	1 / 298	New	11 / 2,142
Independent candidates	16,496	0.49%	1 / 14	1	14 / 118
Christian Democratic Party	129,138	3.86%	3 / 298	2	17 / 2,142
Honduran Patriotic Alliance			1 / 298	-	10 / 2,142
Innovation and Unity Party			1 / 298	1	8 / 2,142
All of Us Are Honduras Party			1 / 298	New	8 / 2,142
Anti-Corruption Party			0 / 298	1	3 / 2,142
Va Movimiento Solidario Party			0 / 298	1	5 / 2,142
Democratic Unification			0 / 298	-	3 / 2,132
New Route			0 / 298	New	0 / 2,142
LIDEHR			0 / 298	New	4 / 2,142
The Front			0 / 298	New	0 / 2,142
Total	3,341,822	100%	298	-	2142
Source: La Prensa, and

Reactions

International

• Organization of American States: the head of the Electoral Observation Mission of the OAS, Luis Guillermo Solís, remarked the responsibility with which Hondurans voted in an "atmosphere of peace and civility" and that the three majority political forces of the country contributed to celebrate "a peaceful election day". Even so, he regretted that an agreement was not reached to reform the electoral law and that the deficiencies detected must be improved.^[26]
• Canada: The Government of Canada congratulated Castro for being the first woman President-elect. Canada states that they are looking forward to work with Castro on several priorities, particularly democracy, inclusivity, abortion, and reducing corruption.^[27]
• Nicaragua: The President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega and his Vice President Rosario Murillo congratulated among the first the candidate Xiomara Castro through an official statement published on 29 November 2021, stating: "Dear Xiomara, Dear Brothers: We salute with much respect and appreciation the progress towards the electoral triumph in Dear Honduras, where that Brother People lives the hope of better times. ... In our closeness and good neighborhood, we continue determined to advance creating the future.".^[28]
• Spain: The Government of Spain congratulated Xiomara Castro on her victory, which is "symbolising the achievements in the struggle for the equality of Honduran women". He also praised Castro's message of "reconciliation, peace and justice" in her victory speech and the Honduran people for a "smooth" election.^[29]
• United States: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Castro on her win following Asfura's concession. In a statement, he expressed congratulations to Castro for becoming the first female president of Honduras.^[30][31]
• Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro expressed through Twitter his congratulations to Castro for her "historic victory".^[32]

National

• David Chávez, President of the National Party of Honduras announced that the party will contribute to a constructive opposition and that they were ready to work with the new government.^[33]

Aftermath

A few months after the election and the end of Hernández's term, it was revealed that on 1 July 2021, Hernández had his visa revoked by the U.S. Department of State, due to involvements in corruption and in the illegal drug trade.^[34][35] On 14 February 2022, he was surrounded by the national police and DEA agents at his home in Tegucigalpa, after the U.S. government had requested his extradition for his involvement with narcotics.^[36][37][38] On 15 February 2022, he agreed to surrender to US authorities,^[39] and on 21 April, Hernández was extradited to the United States.^[40] On 8 March 2024, Hernández was convicted of three counts of drug trafficking and weapons conspiracy, the mandatory minimum sentence for which is 40 years in prison.^[41]

Notes

1. Ordered at all levels as they appeared on the ballots.^[25]
2. Subtracting the councilor seats where they ran in alliances
3. Central District (Honduras)
4. Corquín, Concepción de María, Duyure, Gracias (Lempira), Erandique, La Unión (Lempira), San José de las Colinas, Concepción del Norte, Concepción del Sur and El Níspero,