Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is looking to remain in the office after preliminary estimate showed that 90.3 to 91.9 percent of voters say he should continue his presidency, Mexican National Electoral Institute said on Sunday.

The referendum was promoted by the 68-year-old president, elected in 2018, to ask the Mexican citizens whether he should step down or complete his term, and the turnout was between 17 and 18.2 percent.

The vote has fueled speculation it could open the door to extending presidential term limits in a country where the head of state is allowed to serve only a single six-year period.

Supporters of the referendum said it was a way of increasing democratic accountability, giving voters the opportunity to remove the president due to loss of confidence.

But critics saw it as expensive propaganda and an unnecessary distraction from the many challenges facing the country, including drug-related violence, poverty and the rising cost of living.

Lopez Obrador denies he wants to extend his term.

"Democracy has to become a habit in Mexico," the president told a crowd after he left a voting booth, "so that no one forgets that the people are the ones who govern."

The president has said he will respect the result regardless of turnout for the plebiscite.

(With input from AFP and Reuters)