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The moderate 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 electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the most recent tally suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate backed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.

Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before dropping into second place, stated on social media: "This is a robbery."

The left-wing candidate trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election.

Close Results and Growing Unrest

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with 19.32%, per the election body's update.

Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for extended periods.

Officials from the CNE attributed the delays to "system glitches."

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

Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon

The run-up to the election was overshadowed by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura.

Shortly 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 throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader 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 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 pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US.

Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Meddling

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

Trump claimed the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past 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 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 "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."

Nasralla blamed unnamed "bad actors" for "holding up the counting process."

According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.