New Zealand's biggest pop star, Lorde, has made a late intervention into the Auckland mayoral race, but has fallen foul of election law in doing so.
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On Tuesday, the 25-year-old posted an endorsement of Labour candidate Efeso Collins to her 9.5 million Instagram followers.
"I'm proud to be voting Efeso Collins for Mayor of Auckland," she wrote.
"Local government turnout is low as always - get out there - your community needs you."
However, she blundered by posting a picture of a ballot paper with a 1 next to Mr Collins' name, which runs contrary to the Local Electoral Act's rules on interfering with or influencing voters.
Shortly after, the Aucklander deleted the post and replaced it with a video.
"Okay so the Electoral Commission told me off because you're not allowed to post anything about who you're gonna vote for or show voting papers," she said.
"Post still applies. Get out there," with the words "vote vote vote vote vote" posted in her Instagram story.
A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission denied the organisation had contacted the Auckland-raised singer, saying the election was overseen by the council and Lorde "may have had a case of mistaken identity".
The Auckland Council electoral officer, who is responsible for the ballot, has not responded to request for comment.
The Local Electoral Act stipulates fines of up to $NZ5000 ($A4390) can apply to convictions.
Lorde is not the only celebrity Kiwi to endorse Mr Collins, with Xena: Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless and comedian Guy Williams among others backing the councillor.
The race to succeed retiring Auckland mayor Phil Goff is an open contest, and was already full of controversy before Lorde's involvement.
One candidate, colourful publican Leo Molloy, withdrew after a failed campaign which included inviting voters to harass Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the director-general of health over COVID-19 lockdowns.
"Cowboys don't cry. I'm getting on with my other life as a hospo legend," Mr Molloy said in his withdrawal statement.
Mr Collins' primary rival for the mayoralty is 76-year-old Wayne Brown, a former Far North mayor, who has also made his share of eye-opening comments.
Mr Brown called a NZ Herald journalist "a prick" and said "The first thing I'll do when I get to be mayor, I'll be gluing little pics of him on all the urinals so we can pee on him".
In a debate last month, he described Indian and Chinese migrants as "great people", "simple" and "transactional".
He was also asked by the electoral officer to remove an endorsement post on Chinese-language social media platform WeChat, for breaking the same rule Lorde did.
Mr Collins, backed by Labour and the Greens, was considered the favourite until recent weeks, but two recent polls put him narrowly behind Mr Brown.
Australian Associated Press
