Lorde ‘told off’ for breaking local body election rules on Instagram

Lorde has said that she was told off by an electoral commission for sharing her completed Auckland mayoral ballot with her 9.5million followers on Instagram.

Today (October 4), the New Zealand pop star posted her filled-out ballot on Instagram Stories with one candidate ticked. “I’m proud to be voting […] for Mayor of Auckland,” the photo was captioned, revealing the name of the candidate.

“Local election turnout is low as always – get out there – your community needs you,” Lorde captioned the message.

The shared image came from a different account (where the story has since been taken down) and the account that the image was shared from appears to have been deleted.

Lorde later addressed the error in a video posted on Instagram Stories. “Ok, 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. “So, uh, you know – the post still applies…get out there.”

The word “VOTE” was written across the new video five times.

Under the Local Electoral Act in New Zealand, fines of up to $5,000 (£2,522) can be issued to a voter who publishes a document “being or purporting to be in imitation of any voting document” that “includes the name of a candidate or candidates, together with any direction or indication as to the candidate or candidates for whom any person should vote”.

Meanwhile, last month Lorde teased her next album during a Los Angeles gig.

The singer was wrapping up the second North American leg of her 2022 world tour behind third album ‘Solar Power’, stopping for sets at Primavera Sound Los Angeles and Las Vegas’ Life Is Beautiful.

During a break in the LA gig, the singer was running through the themes of each of her studio albums (2013 debut ‘Pure Heroine’, 2017 follow-up ‘Melodrama’ and 2021’s ‘Solar Power’).

“Who knows what will come next…” she told the crowd, before adding: “Well, I know. And you’ll know sometime soon.” See the speech here.