Zimbabwe's main opposition party on Sunday claimed an early lead in elections, including in a rural stronghold of President Robert Mugabe, in an apparent effort to thwart any attempt to rig the vote count.

The Movement for Democratic Change said party leader Morgan Tsvangirai was leading the presidential race with 67 percent of votes, based on returns from 35 percent of polling stations. With three-quarters of Zimbabwe’s population in rural areas where Mugabe garners most of his support, it was impossible to determine what those figures meant to the race.

Party secretary-general Tendai Biti told a news conference they based their claim on results from Saturday’s balloting posted on the doors of polling stations overnight, which party election agents sent by mobile phone text messages.

Police had tried to persuade the opposition leaders not to announce results, arguing that it was illegal. But the opposition party’s lawyers said the information already was in the public domain.

The announcement defied a stern warning from the southern African nation’s chiefs of security, who already have said they would not tolerate an opposition victory. “We warn anyone of such inclination that we will not tolerate any such (unofficial election result) pronouncements as they have the effect of trying to take the law into their own hands thereby fomenting disorder and mayhem. Everyone is therefore advised to follow the law,” they warned on Friday.

Biti said they had won nearly all parliamentary seats in the two biggest cities, Harare and Bulawayo, which was no surprise as those are opposition strongholds. But he said they also had won in Mashonaland West and Masvingo districts as well as the northeastern town of Bindura, all areas where Mugabe has swept votes in the past.

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