🔗 Share this article Honduran Candidate Claims Vote Has Been 'Stolen' 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 accused "unscrupulous individuals" 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 endorsed 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 theft." The progressive hopeful trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election. Narrow Results and Growing Frustration With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with 19.32%, per the National Electoral Council's (CNE) 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 "technical problems." They have also cautioned that numerous voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be examined. Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon The period preceding the election was dominated by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "Tito and I 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 unexpected action 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 in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine. His clemency and freedom has shocked Honduran authorities, who have 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 fluctuated repeatedly. 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. Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura took 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 urged its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States." Nasralla blamed unnamed "corrupt ones" for "delaying the counting process." According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.