Photo: Pixabay

By KELIN DILLON

During his daily morning press conference on Tuesday, May 14, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) dismissed concerns that potential electrical blackouts could impact the outcome of Mexico’s upcoming federal elections on June 2 and accused previous presidential administrations of utilizing power outages to commit electoral fraud.

“Do you know how they used to do fraud before? Precisely with blackouts, when the votes began to be counted,” said López Obrador at the time, refuting claims that his government would practice the same fraud.

According to the National Electoral Institute (INE), which runs Mexico’s elections, the organization will require 300 power plants to properly carry out the nationwide elections in the event of electrical failures. As a result, the INE is reportedly seeking a meeting with the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to identify resolutions to the theoretical issue.

AMLO subsequently confirmed that the INE will be provided with sufficient power plants to carry out the vote without electrical issues.

“If you need plants, we will get them all,” said López Obrador.

The INE’s concerns and the federal executive’s statements come following a series of blackouts across several Mexican states due to the country’s ongoing heatwave.