New Zealand rugby great Jonah Lomu has been referred to police for tweeting his support of Prime Minister John Key on election day.
Tweets by Lomu and current All Black fullback Israel Dagg were among 26 incidents reported by the Electoral Commission for breaching the Electoral Act during the September 20 poll, it said in a statement on Tuesday. It's an offense in New Zealand to publish support for a candidate or party on the day of an election or to actively try to sway voters, including on social media.
Former All Black Lomu, the storming winger best known for running over England's Mike Catt at the 1995 World Cup, told his 49,000 Twitter followers that they should vote for Key and his National Party. Dagg tweeted to his 88,000 followers that he had just voted for Key and wished him all the best.
Key, who won a third term in a landslide victory, said today the sports personalities had acted "out of ignorance of the law rather than some sort of intent," Fairfax Media reported. Key said he would give them character references, according to Fairfax.
