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ISTANBUL The party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey applied to the countrys election commission on Tuesday for a rerun of the Istanbul mayors race, after two weeks of appeals and recounting of ballots still showed the opposition candidate ahead.

The application for a rerun is seen as a last-ditch attempt by the governing party to avoid losing control of Istanbul, Turkeys largest city and financial center. A defeat in Istanbul would deal a significant blow to Mr. Erdogan, who has been in power for 18 years. Party officials on Tuesday delivered three cases of documents in support of their application.

The 15 million residents of Istanbul have been awaiting a result in the closely run mayoral race between a former prime minister and close ally of Mr. Erdogan, Binali Yildirim, and the opposition Republican Peoples Partys candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Mr. Imamoglu remained in the lead by about 13,000 votes with the recounting and inspection of invalid ballots down to a final district in the opposition-held suburb of Maltepe, in eastern Istanbul. The count in Maltepe is expected to be completed on Tuesday or Wednesday, and barring any further developments, Mr. Imamoglu looked likely to be confirmed as the new mayor.

But the appeal by Mr. Erdogans party, Justice and Development, may forestall that. After submitting the application for a do over, Ali Ihsan Yavuz, the partys deputy leader, told reporters outside the headquarters of the High Election Council in the capital, Ankara, that 85 percent of the mistakes detected in the voting were against his party. He added that the irregularities included 16,000 votes for Justice and Development having been erroneously recorded for other parties.

There is complete organized irregularity and complete election corruption, he said. It shows us the will of the nation was snatched away.

Officials from Mr. Erdogans party, Justice and Development, have been saying for several days that as a final resort they would lodge an extraordinary application for a rerun of the race because of what they called numerous and grave irregularities. A decision from the election council could come within days, and a new vote would be held on June 2 if the governing partys application were accepted, officials have said.

Eleven judges sit on the board of the High Election Council, elected by judges of the Supreme Court and the State Council. The judiciary in Turkey has come under increasing government control in recent years as hundreds of judges, prosecutors and lawyers have been imprisoned or purged from their jobs since a failed coup.

At a news briefing on Monday, Mr. Yildirim said he would support a rerun. He compared the vote to rotten meat and said there existed serious irregularities, serious corruption, and serious findings that mar the election.

His opponent, Mr. Imamoglu, said at a news briefing of his own that there were no grounds to support the application for a fresh vote. To declare the election void was to disrespect the law, he said, adding, The invalid ballots are counted, and it is over.

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Thwarted in Istanbul Election Recount, Erdogans Party ...