🔗 Share this article Presidential Contender Alleges Vote Has Been 'Stolen' 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 "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the country. 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 right-wing contender backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead. Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before dropping into second place, stated on social media: "This is theft." 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 40.53% of the vote, ahead of 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 was repeatedly halted, sometimes for extended periods. Officials from the CNE blamed "technical problems." They have also cautioned that thousands of voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be reviewed. Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon The run-up to the election was dominated by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "Tito and I can work together to fight the drug traffickers." "We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but we will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results," Trump added. In a unexpected action 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 serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine. His clemency and freedom has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US. Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Meddling Meanwhile, tension has been rising as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly. Trump claimed the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on. "They will face severe consequences," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud. Ever since the Trump-endorsed Asfura moved in the lead, it has been his two rivals alleging misconduct. 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 "holding up the counting process." Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.