(dpa) - French President Nicholas Sarkozy may have faked his voter registry for the country's March local elections, the paper Le Canard Enchaine said on Wednesday.
He would not have been allowed to vote, as he was listed with a fake date after the expiry of the registration deadline, the weekly said, causing a major stir in France.
Officials from Paris' 8th arrondissement left traces of the manipulation by not simply tagging the names of Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni at the end of the list, but inserting them between other names.
French citizens must register with their local authorities if they want to participate in elections.
The deadline for the last local elections expired on December 31, but members of Sarkozy's staff wanted to register the president on January 3.
Owing to missing signatures the procedure was completed only a day later, much to the annoyance of district mayor Francois Lebel.
Lebel however was won over by promises of presidential support in the elections and of officiating at the marriage between Sarkozy and Bruni, the paper claimed.