Venezuela’s state-controlled election authority has declared authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro the winner of Sunday’s presidential vote, with the opposition refusing to accept the result and complaining of serious irregularities in the count.

Opinion polls before the vote and quick counts on the day had forecast a big opposition win. But Elvis Amoroso, president of the National Electoral Council, announced that Maduro had secured 51.2 per cent of the votes with 80 per cent counted, while his main opposition challenger, Edmundo González, had managed 44.2 per cent.

Amoroso described the results as “overwhelming and irreversible” and swiftly congratulated Maduro on his victory, blaming “terrorist acts” of sabotage against the voting system for delaying the results for several hours. The leaders of Cuba and Nicaragua sent congratulations to Maduro as his supporters celebrated outside the presidential palace.