Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (right)

Egypt's election commission has declared President Hosni Mubarak the winner of the country's first multi-candidate presidential election, with 88 percent of the vote.

There are 32 million registered voters in a country of 77 million people. The commission reported only 23 percent of them cast ballots in Wednesday's historic poll -- an even lower turnout than earlier estimated. State television reported that Mr. Mubarak won over six million votes.

Mr. Mubarak was widely expected to win a fifth term, despite competition for the first time. The 77-year-old leader faced nine challengers, including Ayman Nour of the liberal Tomorrow [Ghad] Party, who came in a very distant second, ahead of Noaman Gomaa of the Wafd Party.

Independent monitors and Western news agencies reported multiple problems with the vote, but the commission rejected opposition demands for a re-vote.