Auckland mayoral candidates now number 19

Auckland will have a new mayor after Len Brown steps down. Photo / Richard Robinson

The Electoral Office has added business school owner Susanna Kruger to the list of candidates standing for the Auckland mayoralty.

The Namibian-born woman brings to 19 the number of candidates seeking to replace Mayor Len Brown, who is stepping down after two terms.

Electoral officer Dale Ofsoske said Kruger's name did not appear on the draft list of mayoral candidates released last Friday because the office wanted to check if one of the nominees was on the electoral role. Confirmation was made on Monday.

The office has completed a review of two nominations from the centre-right ticket Auckland Future.

Ofsoske said he had received a valid nomination from Viliami Teli Tiseli as a councillor for the Maungakiekie-Tamaki ward and using his discretion had removed the Auckland Future affiliation from voting papers.

Tiseli was accidentally nominated to stand against the ticket's sitting councillor, Denise Krum, for the single seat in the ward. He had intended to stand for a local board.

Ofsoske confirmed a decision not to accept a nomination incorrectly lodged by another Auckland Future candidate for the Maungakiekie subdivision of the Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board.

The nomination was invalid as the two electors who nominated the candidate were not from the Maungakiekie subdivision as required by law, he said.