Lomu in trouble over tweet

Wellington - Rugby star Jonah Lomu is among three leading New Zealand sportsmen who may face charges of breaching electoral laws by tweeting political comments on election day.

Lomu, Olympic and world champion rower Eric Murray and current All Blacks fullback Israel Dagg have been referred to police over election day tweets which supported the National Party of re-elected prime minister John Key.

New Zealand's election laws prohibit the publication on election day of any material which might influence other voters. The offense carries a maximum fine of $20 000.

Lomu, who has 48 000 Twitter followers, tweeted"get in there everyone. Your last chance to vote and grow NZ. Go National."

Dagg and Murray both tweeted support for Key but deleted those tweets when they learned they broke the law.