CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared victory Sunday night in a constitutional referendum that will allow him to run for a third six-year term in 2012.
Venezuelans wait to vote on the referendum Sunday at a poll center in Caracas.
With 94 percent of the votes counted, about 54.4 percent of the voters supported the referendum and 45.6 percent were opposed, the National Election Commission said in a news conference Sunday night.
"Victory, victory, popular victory," Chavez told a jubilant crowd of thousands gathered in front of the Miraflores presidential palace. "This is a clear victory for the people. A clear victory for the revolution."
The National Assembly approved the referendum last month. Venezuelans narrowly rejected a similar measure in December 2007.
If the results hold, Chavez could run for a third consecutive six-year term in 2012.
A student leader said earlier Sunday that his colleagues, many of whom had been opposed to passage of the referendum, would honor the results, El Universal newspaper said. 
Watch report on Venezuleans approving measure »
"We, the youth, believe in democracy and believe in the constitution and in any case will recognize the results no matter what they are," said David Smolansky, of the Catholic University Andres Bello
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