A supporter of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has prevented the electoral commission from releasing the first results from Sunday's run-off.
Damana Adia Pickass, who represents the president in the commission, tore up the results as the body's spokesman was on the verge of announcing them to awaiting journalists.
Wednesday is the legal deadline for the election results to be declared.
The election is supposed to reunify the country divided since a 2002 civil war.
Both former colonial power France and the US have urged the Ivorian authorities to announce the results.
The BBC's John James in the main city Abidjan says it was a moment of drama that illustrates the tension in the country, as rumours circulate alongside unofficial results from Ivory Coast's first presidential election in a decade.
The election commission spokesman Bamba Yacouba had been about to release the results from three of the country's 18 regions.
He said the results had been approved by the commission. BBC News
