🔗 Share this article Honduran Candidate Alleges Election Has Been 'Stolen' 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 accused "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the country. Over a week after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage. Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, declared on social media: "This is a robbery." The left-wing candidate placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be invalidated and accused Trump of the election. Close 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 19.32%, per the election body's update. Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end. Representatives of the CNE blamed "system glitches." They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be examined. Trump's Endorsement and Surprise Pardon The run-up to the election was dominated by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "Tito and I can work together to fight the drug traffickers." "We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a poor choice can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added. In a unexpected action two days before the election, Trump also pardoned jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is from the same party as Asfura. Hernández was in the midst of 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 is still in the US. Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Interference At the same time, tension has been rising 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. 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 "complete cancellation" of the elections. It also urged 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." According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.