🔗 Share this article Presidential Candidate Alleges Vote Has Been 'Manipulated' The atmosphere has been tense as the lead changed hands several times. The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count in the country. Over a week after the election, the electoral council 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: "This is theft." The progressive hopeful trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and alleged US interference by Trump in the election. Narrow Results and Growing Frustration With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, leading Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with 19.32%, according to the election body's update. Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods. Officials from the CNE blamed "technical problems." They have also warned that numerous voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be reviewed. Trump's Endorsement and Surprise Pardon The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "We can work together to fight the drug traffickers." "Our support will be strong 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 is 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 stunned Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US. Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Interference At the same time, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times. Trump claimed the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla overtook Asfura early on. "They will face severe consequences," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud. Ever since 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 urged its supporters to take to the streets against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States." Nasralla pointed the finger at unnamed "bad actors" for "holding up the counting process." According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.