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The moderate candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "corrupt people" 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 conservative candidate backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.

Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before falling to second place, stated on social media: "This is theft."

The left-wing candidate placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be invalidated and accused Trump of the election.

Narrow Results and Growing Unrest

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, according to 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 attributed the delays to "IT issues."

They have also warned that thousands of 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 endorsement of 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 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 pardoned 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 remains in the US.

Mounting Tensions and Claims of Interference

Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times.

Trump claimed 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.

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 "the total annulment" of the elections.

It also urged 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 "bad actors" for "delaying the counting process."

Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.