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Malawian President Peter Mutharika is leading his main rival in this week's election, winning more than 40 percent of the vote, according to figures released Thursday with three quarters of the votes counted.
Mutharika, who heads the ruling ruling Democratic Party (PDP) and is fighting for a second five-year term, holds 40.49 percent of the vote, the electoral commission said.
The leader of the opposition, Lazarus Chakwera, had 35.44%, while the vice president Saulos Chilima was at 18%, according to the partial results.
Mutharika, 78, has campaigned for a second five-year term, improving Malawi's meager road and power infrastructure.
But his government has been pursued by several high-profile cases of corruption and nepotism.
Chakwera on Wednesday warned of alleged attempts to rig Tuesday's election, saying his Malawi congressional party (MCP) was making its own count, which shows it was ahead.
Southeast Africa has about 6.8 million potential voters, more than half of whom are under 35 years of age.
Participation data have not been published.
Voters also selected lawmakers and local councilors in Tuesday's elections.
The European Union Observer Mission described the vote as "well managed, inclusive, transparent and competitive".
But he said the tension during the campaign "has not been helped by various accusations of" rigging "".
Observers said that "conditions of competition are unequal", without giving more details.
Transplant scandals
Malawi has a "win-take-all" system and in 2014 Mutharika won with only 36% of the vote.
He came to power in pledging to fight corruption after the "Cashgate" scandal a year earlier, revealing mbadive looting in state coffers.
But he also faced allegations of corruption.
Last November, Mutharika was forced to hand over a $ 200,000 ($ 180,000) donation from a businessman facing a corruption case under a $ 3 million deal. dollars to provide food to the Malawi police.
At his last campaign rally last weekend, Mutharika told his Blantyre supporters: "My priorities for this country are development and skills development."
Former 64-year-old Chakwera evangelist came in second behind Mutharika in the 2014 polls.
Chilima was a member of the ruling party, but resigned last year to form the United Youth-centered Transformation Movement, while remaining vice president.
Under Malawi law, the president can not dismiss the vice president.
Malawi gained independence from British colonial rule in 1964 and was then led by Hastings Banda as a one-party state until the first multi-party elections of 1994.
The country, which has 18 million inhabitants, has one million adults living with HIV – one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world.
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