🔗 Share this article Honduran Candidate Alleges Vote Has Been 'Manipulated' Tensions have run high as the lead changed hands several times. The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "corrupt people" of tampering with the vote count in the Central American nation. Over a week after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead. Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, stated on social media: "This is a robbery." The left-wing candidate trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be invalidated and accused Trump of the election. Close Results and Growing Unrest With the vast majority of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, leading Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with just under twenty percent, according to the election body's update. Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods. Representatives of the CNE attributed the delays to "technical problems." They have also warned that numerous voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be reviewed. Trump's Endorsement and Surprise Pardon The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "We can work together to fight the drug traffickers." "Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a poor choice can only bring catastrophic results," Trump added. In a surprise move two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who stems from the same party as Asfura. Hernández was in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine. His pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US. Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Meddling At the same time, 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. "If they do, there will be hell to pay," 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 "meddling and pressure 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.