Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa has declared victory after two polls showed him winning a referendum on judicial and media reforms that opponents say are a power grab undermining the Andean nation's democracy.
"The Ecuadorean people have triumphed," said Correa on Saturday, claiming an average 62 per cent "Yes" vote on the 10 proposals.
A private tracking poll by Cedatos-Gallop showed an average 57 per cent of voters backing all the questions in what was essentially a vote of confidence on the flamboyant Correa, 48, who has governed since 2007.
An exit poll by Santiago Perez Investigacion y Estudios showed more than 60 per cent said "Yes" votes to all questions.
Official results were due later on Saturday. Some opposition leaders, though, quickly acknowledged defeat.
The chief of an Organisation of American States observer team, Enrique Correa of Chile, said the voting appeared to go smoothly and there was no evidence of organised fraud.
The plebiscite was an important gauge of Correa's popularity. Correa noted in a television interview that it was the eighth straight electoral victory "of this dream that is called citizen's revolution".
The first for the US-educated economist was his 2006 election, and he was easily re-elected in 2009 after a rewrite of the constitution, following a playbook written by his ally, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Some questions were straightforward, such as whether to ban bullfighting and gambling. Others were complex.
'Historic deed'
Two of the most controversial measures would bar owners of news media from having other commercial interests and create a government media oversight panel.
Correa called approval of the media ownership question "a historic deed."
"We are going to diffuse the power in this country,'' he said.
Critics say the two changes would make it easier for Correa, who is often at loggerheads with the largely opposition news media and business community, to subtly impose censorship.
Another important ballot question called for dissolving Ecuador's judicial oversight council and replacing it with a temporary body given the task of reworking the system.
Another would allow authorities to detain people for longer without filing charges.
Results of the exit poll were broadcast immediately after polls closed, and vice-president Lenin Moreno told reporters that the government took the victory with "humility'' but added that politicians now have a mandate from the public to convert the vote's results into law.
Five of the questions mandate constitutional changes. The other five require congressional action.
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