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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 country.

Over a week after the election, the election authority has yet to announce 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 leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "This is theft."

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

Narrow Results and Growing Unrest

With the vast majority of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with 19.32%, per the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update.

Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for extended periods.

Representatives of the CNE blamed "system glitches."

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

Trump's Endorsement and Surprise Pardon

The period preceding the election was dominated by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura.

Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "Tito and I 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 poor choice can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added.

In a unexpected action 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 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 issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.

Rising Tensions and Allegations of Meddling

At the same time, tension has been rising as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly.

Trump accused 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.

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 "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 "corrupt ones" for "holding up the counting process."

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