45 candidates have dropped out of the race for seats in Armenia's parliament.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has invalidated the registrations of 45 candidates for parliamentary seats in Armenia who withdrew, including candidates on the Wings of Unity and Enlightened Armenia lists.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, the CEC has registered all 19 political forces that applied to participate in the parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, Tigran Urikhanyan, the top candidate on the Alliance Party list, and blogger Vardan Ghukasyan, who held the top spot on the Democracy, Law, and Discipline Party list, were denied registration due to their lack of citizenship and proof of residency in the country for the past four years.

The Central Electoral Commission has invalidated the registration of 45 candidates for parliament. The decision was made at an extraordinary meeting on May 14. Candidates included on the electoral lists of the Republic, Against All, Alliance, Bright Armenia, Armenian National Congress, Wings of Unity, Kochari - National Revival and Awakening of the Nation, and the Alliance of Defenders of Democracy for the Republic parties submitted self-withdrawal notices, Armenpress reports.

At the same time, the CEC rejected the self-withdrawal notice of one candidate, as the document was not notarized and the candidate was not present at the commission meeting. According to Armenia's Electoral Code, candidates for parliament have the right to submit a statement of self-withdrawal no later than 10 days before voting day—until 6:00 PM on May 28, Armenia Today reports.