Armenian election official rejects invalid results claim

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — 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. The June 20 election gave 71 seats in parliament to the party of acting prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, 29 to a bloc headed by former President Robert Kocharyan and seven to a bloc headed by ex-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 Sunday, saying it didn’t show that violations affected the outcome.