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

Nine days after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a narrow lead.

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

The progressive hopeful trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be invalidated and accused Trump of the election.

Narrow Results and Growing Frustration

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with 19.32%, according to the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update.

Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end.

Officials from the CNE attributed the delays to "technical problems."

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

Trump's Backing and Controversial 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 "We can work together to fight the Narcocommunists."

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

Rising Tensions and Claims of Meddling

Meanwhile, 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 offering proof 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 "the total annulment" of the elections.

It also urged its supporters to take to the streets against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."

Nasralla blamed unnamed "bad actors" for "delaying the counting process."

According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.