(HARARE, Zimbabwe) — The main challenger to Zimbabwe's longtime president, Robert Mugabe, said Thursday the election is "null and void" due to alleged violations in the voting process, but Mugabe has denied vote rigging. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Wednesday's election was heavily manipulated and did not meet regional or African election standards. A poll monitoring group that is not affiliated with the state also said the poll was compromised by a campaign to stop voters from casting ballots. (MORE: Zimbabwe Heads to the Ballot Box, but Can It Finally Turn a Corner?) Mugabe has denied allegations of vote-rigging as a smear campaign by opponents. Final results are expected by Monday. The elections posed one of the biggest challenges to Mugabe's 33-year grip on power on this former British colony in southeast Africa. "The shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis," Tsvangirai warned. The head of African Union observer mission, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, said late Wednesday that reports of irregularities "will be investigated but have not yet been substantiated." Mugabe's party said Thursday it has withdrawn an unauthorized message on its Twitter feed claiming a resounding victory. The ZANU-PF party said it is awaiting the release of results by the state election commission, the only body allowed under the law to announce the outcome of massive voting on Wednesday. Solomon Zwana, head of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, said Thursday it has found a "wide range of problems" in the election and that the poll was compromised by a campaign to stop voters from casting ballots. The monitoring group says as many as 1 million out of more than 6 million eligible voters were not on voters' lists. (PHOTOS: Hope and Tension Run High as Zimbabwe Votes) Zimbabweans voted in large numbers Wednesday in an election that was peaceful compared to disputed and violent polls in 2008. Thousands of voters lined up in Harare's populous Mbare township but by Wednesday evening all(http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&blog=19871253&post=96570&subd=timeglobalspin&ref=&feed=1)
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