🔗 Share this article Honduran Candidate Claims Vote Has Been 'Rigged' Tensions have run high as the lead changed hands several times. The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the Central American nation. Nine days after the election, the election authority has still not declared a winner, but the most recent tally suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage. Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, stated 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 Frustration With the vast majority 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. Officials from the CNE blamed "system glitches." They have also warned that numerous voting records with "irregularities" still need to be reviewed. Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon The period preceding the election was dominated by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Shortly before the vote, Trump backed 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 wrong Leader 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 serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for conspiring to import cocaine. His clemency and freedom has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US. Rising Tensions and Claims 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. "They will face severe consequences," 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 crying foul. 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 "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States." Nasralla blamed unnamed "bad actors" for "holding up the counting process." Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.