🔗 Share this article Presidential Candidate Claims Vote Has Been 'Stolen' Tensions have run high as the lead changed hands several times. The moderate candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count in the Central American nation. Over a week after the election, the electoral council has yet to announce 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 falling to second place, declared on social media: "This is a robbery." The progressive hopeful trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded 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, ahead of Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with just under twenty percent, per 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 "IT issues." They have also warned that numerous voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be examined. Trump's Endorsement and Controversial Pardon The period preceding the election was dominated by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Just days before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "We can work together to fight the Narcocommunists." "Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but the United States will not be wasting resources, because a poor choice can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added. In a surprise move two days before the election, Trump also pardoned 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 pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US. Rising 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. "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 protest publicly against what it called "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States." Nasralla pointed the finger at unnamed "corrupt ones" for "holding up the counting process." According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.