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Lorde will be asked to remove a social media post that violates local electoral law.
NZ musician Lorde called on Kiwis to go to the polls, but a photo she shared with her 9.5 million followers breaks election rules.
Electoral officer Dale Ofsoske will ask her to delete the post, and failure to do so could result in a fine of up to $5,000.
On Tuesday around 4:30 am Lorde shared on social media a photo of a single-tick ballot for Auckland’s mayoral candidate Efeso Collins.
“I’M PROUD TO VOTE…”, it said.
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In smaller text, she added that turnout was low and encouraged people to “get out…your community needs you.”
The photo she shared came from another account, but election official Dale Ofsoske said it didn’t have to be your own ballot paper to be a violation.
“Basically, you can put up a billboard or advertise with a name and a checkmark… [but] you cross a line if there are several candidates on the list, and you indicate how you are going to vote.”
He said people who encourage others to vote are “noble,” but they shouldn’t instruct others how to do it that way.
One permissible way would be to simply put an endorsement for certain candidates, he said.
He said the general public probably wouldn’t know it was a rule violation, so when complaints were filed, people were asked to remove the post. Failure to do so may result in the police being notified and, if convicted, the person violating the rule could be fined up to $5,000.
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Lorde, who was currently in the US, declined to comment, according to a colleague in New Zealand.
Violating the Local Elections Act in this way was something even experienced politicians have done this election season.
Last week, Christchurch City Councilor Aaron Keown, who was seeking a fourth term on the council, ordered to remove a photo from his ballot from social media.
Keown said he was not aware of the rules, despite running in six elections.
He said his motivation had been to encourage people to vote as turnout was low.
By October 3, 16.7% of voters in Auckland had cast their votes, a decrease of 3.2% from this time in the previous election.