The final results of Auckland's local election have been delayed because of the significant number of special votes that were put in.
Independent Election Services' Dale Ofsoske said in a statement special votes take more time to process, as there are extra steps involved to ensure the votes cast are eligible before they are sorted and counted.
"We've received about 6,500 special votes in total, so it is taking longer than expected. It's important we process these accurately – the verification of these votes needs to be exact before being forwarded onto the Electoral Commission for confirmation."
Wayne Brown was elected as Auckland's mayor with 144,619 votes, winning by a landslide against his fellow candidate Efeso Collins who received 54,808 votes.
The progress results reflect about 90 percent of the votes.
The official and final results for Auckland's local election will be published on Saturday, October 15, on the Auckland Council website.
They were originally due to be released on Friday.
