Albania's top electoral court has turned down an opposition request for a rerun of a contentious vote that threw the country into a political crisis in May.

The decision Friday means governing party candidate Lulzim Basha retains his victory in the race for Tirana mayor.

Albania's local election on May 8 led to a major crisis as the opposition and governing party candidates were separated by just a handful of votes.

Opposition supporters held rallies for days outside the electoral commission's headquarters in May to protest a decision to amend the results by including ballots originally uncounted for having been cast into the wrong ballot boxes. The final result shows Basha winning with 93 more votes than opposition candidate Edi Rama.