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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 Central American nation.

Over a week after the election, the electoral council 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 narrow lead.

Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "They have stolen it."

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.

Close 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 days on end.

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

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

Trump's Backing and Surprise Pardon

The run-up to the election was dominated by Trump's endorsement of 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."

"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but the United States will not be wasting resources, 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 is 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 issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.

Rising Tensions and Claims of Meddling

At the same time, tension has been rising as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times.

Trump accused the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla overtook Asfura early on.

"They will face severe consequences," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud.

Ever since 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 urged its supporters to take to the streets against what it called "the interference and coercion 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 announce a victor.