June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico's election regulator said it will ensure 1 million dead people on the national voter registry don't affect the outcome of the July 2 election with safeguards that prevent Mexicans from casting two ballots.

Voters are required to present a valid identification card with photo and receive a mark on their thumb with indelible, purple ink after voting, said Luis Ugalde, president of the Federal Electoral Institute. That will prevent Mexicans from voting twice, he said.

``There are many people who have died and we haven't been notified so they are on the registry -- that's a fact,'' Ugalde said at a press conference in Mexico City. ``There's no possibility for them to vote because they are dead.''

The number of dead people on the registry grows every year, Ugalde said, because of poor reporting of deaths from local authorities.

Mexicans will cast ballots at 130,489 polling stations across the station. The election registry lists 71 million voters.

Election officials expect to announce a winner based on a quick count from 7,636 polling stations at 11 p.m. Mexico City time (midnight in New York) on July 2, Ugalde said.

The quick count will have a margin of error of plus or minus 0.3 percentage point, he said.

Ugalde said 32 companies have registered to do exit polls and the results can be released after 8 p.m. Mexico City time when all the country's polling places close. The exit polls will have margins of error of about plus or minus 3 percentage points, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Back in Monterrey at tblack@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 29, 2006 17:42 EDT