Ecuador's President Rafael Correa accused opposition groups Monday of manipulating the vote count in a referendum as his margin of victory narrowed on planned media, banking and judicial reforms.

Certain provinces "are refusing to include their vote data in the national count in a protest to claim that there is a dead heat" on at least two media-related reforms, Correa said at a news conference.

But "no, there is no dead heat to be seen anywhere" he insisted, claiming his government swept the 10-question referendum with a wide margin of victory in most provinces of the South American country of more than 13 million.

Opposition groups meanwhile called for a recount, pointing to inconsistencies in the results.

The proposals included measures bolstering Correa's power to regulate the country's judiciary and news media, among them aims to amend the constitution to restrict investment in local media.

But with 40.2 percent of the votes counted, nine of the 10 proposals got support ranging between 43.7 and 49 percent, while the "No" camp ranged from 40.45 to 44.2 percent, according to official National Electoral Council figures.

Those figures did not include results on a controversial plan to ban bullfighting.

Earlier results were tighter on a proposal to authorize a council to regulate violent, sexually explicit and potentially discriminatory media content, with the "yes" camp scoring 43.84 percent of the votes, compared to 43.55 percent for those against the plan.

Media workers have expressed outrage at the proposals because they would hold individual journalists criminally responsible for such violations -- and critics maintain the move was a veiled attempt to muzzle dissent.

"It is essential, and that was our request to the National Electoral Council, to open all ballot boxes and recount the votes in those records where there are inconsistencies," said Cesar Montufar, leader of the National Coalition movement.

He pointed to an "unprecedented number of records that are not being processed" for inconsistencies, especially in provinces with higher numbers of voters. "It is extremely worrying," Montufar told AFP.

But monitors from the Organization of American States were unfazed.

"We are informed of how things are going at polling stations. We do not have evidence of any fraud," said lead OAS monitor Enrique Correa.

If the exit poll results are officially confirmed, the referendum will mark a sixth major political victory for Correa, a leftist economist by training and close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in his four-year rule.