🔗 Share this article Presidential Candidate Alleges Election Has Been 'Manipulated' Tensions have run high as the lead changed hands several times. The centrist candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "corrupt people" of tampering with the vote count in the Central American nation. Nine days after the election, the election authority has still not declared a winner, but the most recent tally suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage. Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "They have stolen it." The left-wing candidate placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election. Close Results and Growing Unrest With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, per the election body's update. Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for days on end. Officials from the CNE blamed "system glitches." They have also cautioned that numerous voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be reviewed. Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon The run-up to the election was dominated by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists." "We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but we will not be throwing good money after bad, because a poor choice can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added. In a unexpected action two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is from the same party as Asfura. Hernández was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine. His pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US. Mounting Tensions and Claims of Meddling Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly. Trump claimed the CNE of "trying to change" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on. "They will face severe consequences," the US president said without offering proof of any fraud. Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura took the lead, it has been his two rivals crying foul. Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "the total annulment" of the elections. It also called on its supporters to take to the streets against what it called "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States." Nasralla blamed unnamed "bad actors" for "delaying the counting process." Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.