🔗 Share this article Presidential Contender Alleges Election Has Been 'Rigged' The atmosphere has been tense as the lead changed hands several times. The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "corrupt people" of tampering with the vote count in the country. Over a week after the election, the election authority has yet to announce 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 ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, stated on social media: "This is a robbery." The progressive hopeful placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election. Narrow Results and Growing Unrest With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, according to the election body's update. Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for extended periods. Officials from the CNE blamed "technical problems." They have also warned that numerous voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be examined. Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon The period preceding the election was dominated by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "We can work together to fight the drug traffickers." "We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but the United States will not be wasting resources, 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 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 is still in the US. Rising Tensions and Allegations of Meddling Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times. Trump accused 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 moved in 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 urged 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." According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.