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The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count in the country.

Over a week after the election, the election authority has yet to announce a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.

Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, stated on social media: "They have stolen it."

The progressive hopeful trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be invalidated and alleged US interference by Trump in the election.

Narrow Results and Growing Frustration

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with 39.16% 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 stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods.

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

They have also warned that numerous voting records with "irregularities" still need to be reviewed.

Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon

The run-up to the election was overshadowed by Trump's support for 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."

"We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but we will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added.

In a surprise move 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 pardon and subsequent release has stunned Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US.

Rising Tensions and Allegations of Meddling

Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense 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 providing evidence of any fraud.

Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura took 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 protest publicly against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."

Nasralla pointed the finger at unnamed "bad actors" for "holding up the counting process."

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