Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has won a controversial third term, taking nearly 70% of the vote, according to provisional results from the country's electoral commission.
Opposition leader Agathon Rwasa won 19% of the vote after his name was left on the ballot paper, despite a boycott.
At least 70 people have been killed since Mr Nkurunziza announced in April he would run for a third term.
The government accuses the opposition of provoking violent protests.
Opponents says his bid was illegal, due to a limit of two terms in the constitution.
Final, official results are expected at the end of next week.
Turnout was more than 73%, higher than many analysts predicted, although it was significantly lower in the capital Bujumbura, where most of the protests have been.
In an interview with the BBC after the declaration, Mr Rwasa described the elections results as "a joke".
"These are results set up in the electoral commission... not those expressed by the voters," he said.
Regional and international bodies have already said the conditions for credible and free elections were not met.
The US State Department has joined critics saying the election lacks credibility.
"Ten years of dictatorship is too much", Mr Rwasa told the BBC, citing alleged corruption and extrajudicial killings as reasons why many Burundians now want change.
Mr Rwasa would not confirm whether he or other members of his opposition coalition Amizero y'Abarundi would be taking up the 30 seats they had been awarded in the parliamentary election, despite boycotting the vote.
The African Union (AU) did not send observers - the first time it has taken such a stance against a member state.
The US state department and the European Union expressed concern that the elections were not free and fair.
In May, army generals opposed to President Nkurunziza's continuing rule failed to overthrow him in a coup attempt.
Tensions between Burundi's ethnic Hutu majority - comprising some 85% of the 10.5 million population - and Tutsi minority have flared up regularly since independence from Belgium in 1962.
Mr Nkurunziza led a Hutu rebel group fighting the Tutsi-dominated army until a peace deal led to him becoming president in 2005.
The Constitutional Court backed his argument that his first term in office did not count towards the two-term limit, as he was elected by MPs.
Latest Stories
-
Sammy Gyamfi writes: Tema-Mpakadan Railway Project; A railway line to nowhere
8 mins -
Bright Simons: Is the World Bank saving or harming Ghana?
24 mins -
CAF Cup: RS Berkane banned from entering Algeria because of a map of Morocco with its Sahara
41 mins -
The media isn’t doing what is expected of journalism – Sulemana Braimah
55 mins -
Truck driver who caused train accident jailed 6 months
1 hour -
Music review: Okyeame Kwame proves rap dexterity on ‘No Competition’
1 hour -
How a 23-year-old fooled the internet with an AI Kendrick Lamar diss track
2 hours -
No man should be intimidated by the strength of a woman – Charlotte Oduro
2 hours -
Ghana is not immune to terrorist attack – National Security
2 hours -
WAFU B U-17 Championship: Ghana drawn in Group A, face Benin and Cote d’Ivoire
2 hours -
Two hit by stray bullet as Police clash with ‘wee smokers’
2 hours -
Peter Amewu blames truck driver recklessness for train accident
2 hours -
Okyeame Kwame aims for another Artiste of the Year win after 15 years
2 hours -
NAGRAT gives government one-week ultimatum to redeem unpaid pensions for 700,000 workers
2 hours -
Deloitte launches Technology, Media and Telecom predictions for 2024
3 hours