đŸ”— Share this article Presidential Contender Alleges Vote Has Been 'Manipulated' Tensions have run high as the lead changed hands several times. The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "unscrupulous individuals" of manipulating the vote count in the Central American nation. Over a week after the election, the election authority has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate endorsed 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 annulled and alleged US interference by Trump in the election. Close Results and Growing Frustration 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, according to the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update. Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end. Officials from the CNE blamed "system glitches." They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "irregularities" still need to be examined. Trump's Endorsement and Surprise Pardon The run-up to the election was overshadowed by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind 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 disastrous outcomes," Trump added. In a unexpected action two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando HernĂ¡ndez, who is from the same party as Asfura. HernĂ¡ndez was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for conspiring to import cocaine. His clemency and freedom has stunned Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for HernĂ¡ndez, who is still in the US. Rising Tensions and Claims of Meddling At the same time, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times. Trump accused the CNE of "seeking to alter" 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 "complete cancellation" 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 "corrupt ones" for "holding up the counting process." According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.