Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Henri Falcon speaks during a press conference after the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced the results of the voting on election day in Venezuela, on May 20, 2018. / AFP / Carlos Becerra
Caracas, Henri Falcon, President Nicolas Maduro's main rival in the Venezuelan elections, rejected Sunday's poll as invalid and called for new elections later this year.
"We do not recognize this electoral process as valid, as true. For us, there were no elections. We have to have new elections in Venezuela," Falcon told a news conference, accusing the government of coercing voters.
Falcon said fresh elections could be held in November or December, when they are traditionally held. Maduro's government had them brought forward by several months.
Falcon pointed particularly to so-called "red points" -- street stalls set up by the ruling Socialists near polling stations -- allegedly to offer handouts in exchange for votes.
Falcon said "12,711 red points were installed throughout the country," representing 87 percent of polling stations.
The 56-year-old former governor also said polling centers had remained open after the scheduled closing time, and that his monitors were expelled from some of them.
