Manila, Nov. 24: The death toll in yesterday’s election violence more than doubled to 46 today, Philippine authorities said, as the government declared a state of emergency in two southern Philippine provinces in an effort to head off further bloodshed.

The discovery of 22 more bodies left only a few people unaccounted for among of the group of about 50 lawyers, journalists and relatives of local politicians who were abducted yesterday by what witnesses said were more than 100 gunmen. At least 20 journalists were among those slain, the authorities said.

A state of emergency was declared in the contiguous provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat and the city of Cotabato on the southern island of Mindanao, a region notorious for its long-running political and clan feuds, officials said.

The order, by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, gives the military and the police wider authority to arrest and detain people, and to conduct searches.