🔗 Share this article Presidential Candidate Claims Election 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 alleged "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the Central American nation. Nine days after the election, the electoral council has yet to announce a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead. Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before falling to second place, stated on social media: "They have stolen it." The left-wing candidate trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be invalidated and alleged US interference by Trump in the election. Close Results and Growing Unrest With 98.77% 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 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 cautioned that thousands of voting records with "irregularities" still need to be reviewed. Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon The period preceding the election was dominated 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." "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 granted clemency to 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 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 accused 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. Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura took 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 called on its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States." Nasralla blamed unnamed "corrupt ones" for "delaying the counting process." Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.