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The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "unscrupulous individuals" of manipulating 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 right-wing contender backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.

Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "This is a robbery."

The left-wing candidate trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and alleged US interference by Trump in the election.

Narrow Results and Growing Frustration

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, leading Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with just under twenty percent, per the election body's update.

Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods.

Representatives of the CNE attributed the delays to "system glitches."

They have also cautioned that thousands of voting records with "irregularities" still need to be examined.

Trump's Endorsement 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, stating that "Tito and I can work together to fight the drug traffickers."

"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader 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 is 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 stunned Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US.

Rising Tensions and Allegations of Meddling

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

Trump accused the CNE of "seeking to alter" 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.

Ever since the Trump-endorsed Asfura took 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 "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."

Nasralla pointed the finger at unnamed "corrupt ones" for "delaying the counting process."

According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.