Electoral court declares Morales winner of Bolivia election

Election authorities on Thursday declared Evo Morales winner of Bolivia's controversial presidential election, whose disputed count process triggered riots and a general strike.

The website of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal showed Morales with 47.06 per cent of the vote, with the opposition candidate Carlos Mesa on 36.5 per cent, with 99.8 per cent of the vote counted.

Mesa required a margin of less than 10 points to force a runoff.