By FABIOLA SANCHEZ – 37 minutes ago

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's national electoral council has dealt a setback to President Hugo Chavez's foes by tentatively accepting a blacklist barring more than 400 potential candidates — most from the opposition.

German Yepez, one of the council's five directors, said the agency decided Wednesday to abide by the anti-corruption blacklist drawn up by the government's top anti-corruption official, Comptroller-General Clodosbaldo Russian.

None of the potential candidates has been formally charged with a crime, but Russian says the law bars people from seeking office while facing corruption probes.

The ban affects some of the opposition's most prominent leaders ahead of November's state and local elections — the first major round of voting since Chavez suffered his only setback at the ballot box in a December referendum that would have removed limits on his ability to seek re-election.

Yepez said the council decided it will not register the candidates unless the Supreme Court rules they can run, but it urged the court to "quickly decide" on the appeals of people on the list of banned candidates.

But he said the council may reconsider the case of 100 politicians who may already have been barred due to investigation for the maximum period permitted by law.

Opposition candidates on the list have led protests and asked the Supreme Court to throw out Russian's list, which they say was drawn up for political reasons.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i...