Armenian election official rejects invalid results claim

Armenia's national elections commission has denied a claim by major opposition groups that the parliamentary election results that gave an overwhelming victory to the acting prime minister's party are invalid

YEREVAN, Armenia -- Armenia’s national elections commission on Sunday denied a claim by major opposition groups that the parliamentary election results that gave an overwhelming victory to the acting prime minister’s party are invalid. The June 20 election gave 71 seats in parliament to the party of the acting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan; 29 to a bloc headed by former President Robert Kocharyan and seven to a bloc headed by another former president, Serzh Sargsyan. Those blocs and a smaller party that didn't win seats issued a statement saying the results should be declared invalid because of voting violations. Elections commission head Tigran Mukuchyan rejected the claim, saying it didn't show that violations affected the outcome. The head of Kocharyan’s bloc, Aram Vardevanyan, said the opposition would lodge an appeal with the constitutional court.