🔗 Share this article Honduran Candidate Alleges Vote Has Been 'Manipulated' 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 "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count in the country. Nine days after the election, the election authority 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 slim advantage. Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, declared on social media: "They have stolen it." 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 39.16% and Moncada with just under twenty percent, per the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update. Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for days on end. Officials from the CNE blamed "technical problems." They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "irregularities" 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. Just days before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying 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 catastrophic results," Trump added. In a surprise move 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 pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US. Mounting Tensions and Claims of Meddling 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 "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. 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 "the total annulment" 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 "bad actors" for "delaying the counting process." According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.