MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Senate passed a constitutional amendment on Thursday that would allow election results to be annulled due to foreign interference, a measure proposed by President Claudia Sheinbaum. The bill, which has already cleared the lower house of Congress, now requires ratification by a majority of Mexico’s 32 states to become law.

The amendment defines foreign interference as “illicit financing, propaganda, the systematic dissemination of misinformation, digital manipulation, and the intervention of foreign governments or agencies.” It would empower Mexico’s electoral court to nullify election results if it determines interference occurred from a foreign government, overseas organization, or individual citizen. Mexico faces midterm elections next year.

Sheinbaum defended the measure at a news conference on Thursday, saying: “All Mexicans should agree that there should be no foreign interference in elections in Mexico. We must all agree that in Mexico, we Mexicans decide who governs us.” Her Morena party currently controls the presidency, both chambers of Congress, and 24 statehouses, positioning it to potentially secure the state-level approvals needed for ratification.

Concerns have been raised about the concentration of power in institutions aligned with Morena. Ricardo Anaya, a senator from the opposition PAN party, told reporters: “It’s a trap so that Morena can literally annul any election they want. What they want to ensure is total control.”

Arturo Sarukhan, a former Mexican ambassador to the U.S., wrote on X: “This is one of the most egregious, alarming and retrograde pieces of legislation in Mexico’s young democratic history. This law doesn’t prevent foreign interference. It hands the government a veto over election outcomes it doesn’t like.”

Mexico’s electoral court was restructured under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and is now largely aligned with Morena.