Egypt opposition wants dead voters struck off roll

CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) -- Opposition parties want candidate registration for Egypt's forthcoming general election to be delayed until names of the dead have been purged from voter lists, a newspaper said on Monday.

"The Administrative Court in (the southern city of) Qena will study tomorrow a case filed by representatives of the Wafd Party and other opposition parties," said al-Wafd newspaper, mouthpiece of the liberal Wafd Party.

It said it had submitted evidence showing voter lists included names of dead people, convicted criminals and others legally deprived of their political rights.

State-owned al-Ahram daily said on Monday Interior Minister Habib al-Adli had ordered the printing of voter lists minus dead or otherwise ineligible people.

It said Adli would authorize candidates to register from Thursday. The election for 444 deputies will take place in three stages in October and November in different regions.

Egypt has in the past held elections on a single day, but the government chose a new formula after a court ruling in July said judges must monitor all polling stations. There are not enough judges to supervise nation-wide voting on one day.

Judicial supervision was a key demand of opposition parties which criticized the last parliamentary election in 1995 as the dirtiest and least fair in Egypt's modern history.

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