Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton declared Missouri primary winners, a month on

[NEW YORK] Presidential frontrunners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were on Tuesday (April 12) declared the official winners of the Missouri primaries - nearly a month after they were held.

The March 15 votes in both parties were extremely close: Mrs Clinton and rival Bernie Sanders were neck-and-neck, as were Mr Trump and Senator Ted Cruz.

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander finally certified the result, tweeting: "@HillaryClinton and @realDonaldTrump have officially won Missouri."

Mrs Clinton earned 49.6 per cent of the vote, to 49.36 per cent for Mr Sanders - a margin of 1,574 votes, according to the results posted on the secretary of state's website. Each takes 34 delegates.

On the Republican side, Mr Trump earned 40.84 per cent of the vote, to 40.63 per cent for Mr Cruz - a difference of 1,965 votes. The real estate mogul thereby takes 25 delegates to 15 for the Texas senator.

Mrs Clinton and Mr Trump are leading in the race to secure their respective party nominations ahead of election day in November.

The next primaries are set to take place on April 19 in New York. Mrs Clinton and Mr Trump are both leading in opinion polls.

AFP