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The moderate candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "unscrupulous individuals" of tampering with the vote count in the country.

Over a week 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 endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead.

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

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

Close Results and Growing Frustration

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had just over forty percent of the vote, leading 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 was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end.

Representatives of the CNE attributed the delays to "technical problems."

They have also cautioned that numerous voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be examined.

Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon

The run-up to 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 "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 poor choice 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 in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine.

His clemency and freedom has stunned Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.

Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Interference

Meanwhile, tension has been rising as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly.

Trump accused 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 providing evidence of any fraud.

Since the moment 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 called on 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 "delaying the counting process."

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