A long-simmering scandal of phantom voters and rigged elections is beginning to bubble over in Paris.

A long-simmering scandal of phantom voters and rigged elections is beginning to bubble over in Paris, threatening legal action against Mayor Jean Tiberi and casting shadows over French President Jacques Chirac himself. Delayed by legal chicanery and the burden caused by the investigation into the car-crash death of Princess Diana, the explosive probes are gathering speed just as Chirac and his Gaullist RPR party are gearing up for crucial elections. Interrogations began on Friday of 15 city officials, among them a top aide to Tiberi, on charges they stuffed electoral rolls in the city's third district with 859 non-resident voters to ensure a conservative victory in the 1989 race for City Hall. Media muckraking has now turned up a secret police report listing 3,315 phantom voters in the fifth district, the Latin Quarter stronghold of Tiberi, who was Chirac's deputy mayor. Chirac was a municipal councilor from the fifth district. While no firm link has been established, so many elements point toward Chirac Paris mayor from 1977 to 1995 -- that politicians and the press are increasingly calling for him to take a public stand on the issue. Chirac, who used City Hall as the springboard for his election as president in 1995 and is aiming for re-election in 2002, enjoys immunity as head of state and has refused to comment on the fraud cases. But Tiberi, who denies any wrongdoing, does not have such immunity and legal experts say he could soon be investigated as well.