Ecuadoreans vote on new constitution

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuadoreans on Sunday resoundingly approved a new constitution that would significantly broaden leftist President Rafael Correa's powers and allow him to run for two more consecutive terms, exit polls showed.

"Three to one!" Correa shouted jubilantly upon hearing the news that at least 66 percent of voters were in favor of the measure.

"We're making history, onward!" a beaming Correa proclaimed before singing his party's anthem, "Patria," in his coastal hometown of Guayaquil, where resistance was expected to be highest but "yes" apparently won.

The Cedatos polling organization said 70 percent of voters backed the new constitution while a second firm, SP, said it won 66 percent approval. First official results were expected late Sunday.

Correa says the Andean nation's 20th constitution will spur "rapid, profound change," benefiting the hardworking, humble majority and helping him eradicate a political class that made Ecuador one of Latin America's most corrupt countries.

While conceding that it's far from radical compared to similar projects in Venezuela and Bolivia, critics say the new constitution gives Correa far too much control over the economy, as well as the judicial and legislative branches.

Sunday's vote was a plebiscite on Correa's nearly two years in power. Beforehand, he said it would decide "the model of society in which we will live."

In an upper-middle-class district of Quito, Roberto Ona voted "yes" because the new magna carta contains educational and social security guarantees.

"There are good and bad things in this government," the 21-year-old college student said. "The president is a bit domineering, but we're not voting for the president but for a new constitution."

Indeed, the proposed constitution would enshrine social security benefits for stay-at-home mothers and workers in the informal sector, as well as free education for all through university level. Such measures would supplement already-popular Correa programs that provide low-interest micro-loans for small businesses, building-material giveaways for homes and free seeds for growing crops.

Approval of the ballot question will almost certainly lead to presidential, congressional and local elections early next year, and an overhaul of the judiciary in which Correa is expected to play a decisive role.