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The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge 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 still not declared 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 leading earlier on 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 annulled and accused Trump of the election.

Close Results and Growing Frustration

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent 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 "IT issues."

They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be reviewed.

Trump's Backing 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 we will not be wasting resources, because a wrong Leader 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 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 Claims of Interference

At the same time, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly.

Trump claimed the CNE of "trying to change" the outcome when Nasralla overtook Asfura early on.

"If they do, there will be hell to pay," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud.

Since the moment 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 called on its supporters to take to the streets against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."

Nasralla blamed unnamed "corrupt ones" for "holding up the counting process."

Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.