The central elections committee released the official results of Sunday's referendum on Wednesday and passed them to Venezuela's National Assembly. The parliament will review the results and pass them to the president to be signed into law.

The amendment changes the wording of the country's constitution from "the president may be reelected only once" to simply "the president may be reelected."

Some 11.7 million people cast ballots out of the 17 million eligible to vote. The referendum was passed with 6.3 million for (54.86%) and 5.2 million against (45.13%). International observers and the U.S. State Department have confirmed that the voting process met international democratic standards.

Chavez will now be able to run for a third term, to last seven years, in December 2012.