Kansas Mayor Faces Criminal Charges for Allegedly Voting as Non-Citizen

Kansas authorities have filed criminal charges against Joe Ceballos, the mayor of Coldwater, alleging he illegally voted in multiple elections despite not being a U.S. citizen. The charges were announced Wednesday by Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Attorney General Kris Kobach, both Republicans.

According to officials, Ceballos, a lawful permanent resident from Mexico, allegedly cast ballots in elections held in 2022, 2023, and 2024. He faces six criminal charges filed in Comanche County, including perjury and voting without being qualified. If convicted, Ceballos could face more than five years in prison.

Ceballos, who previously served as a city councilman before becoming mayor of the small rural community, did not respond to requests for comment. He was on the ballot for reelection on Election Day, though results have not yet been certified.

“Noncitizen voting is a real problem. It is not something that happens once in a decade. It is something that happens fairly frequently,” said Kobach during the announcement, echoing broader Republican concerns about voter fraud.

Kobach, a longtime immigration hardliner and ally of former President Donald Trump, has a history of advocating for stricter voter identification laws and tougher immigration enforcement. In 2018, he faced a significant legal setback when a federal court struck down his attempt to require physical documentation of U.S. citizenship for voter registration, ruling it violated federal election laws.

At that time, the court determined the state law could not “be justified by the scant evidence of noncitizen voter fraud before and after the law was passed.” Critics have pointed to such rulings as evidence that noncitizen voting is not as widespread as some Republicans claim.

While Kobach did not specify how authorities discovered Ceballos’ alleged citizenship status, he stated that investigators had “unassailable evidence” against the mayor. He also noted that holding the position of mayor requires U.S. citizenship under law, though this alone is not a criminal offense.

“In large part, our system right now is based on trust, trust that when the person signs the registration or signs the poll books saying that he is a qualified elector or that he is a United States citizen, that the person is telling the truth,” Kobach explained. “In this case we allege that Mr. Ceballos violated that trust.”

The case highlights ongoing tensions around voter eligibility and election security. States are legally required to maintain clean voter registration lists through regular maintenance procedures. This process includes screening for noncitizens, though Kobach acknowledged that such systems are not error-proof.

Kobach and Schwab announced they have recently begun utilizing a federal government database that cross-checks voter rolls against immigration records. They expect this tool will help them identify more potential voting violations moving forward.

The charges against Ceballos come amid continued national debate over election integrity and voter identification requirements. Many Republican-led states have pushed for stricter voter ID laws, while Democrats often argue such measures can disenfranchise legitimate voters, particularly minorities and low-income citizens.

Coldwater, a small community in rural Kansas with fewer than 1,000 residents, now finds itself at the center of this contentious national conversation about voter eligibility and citizenship requirements.

Ceballos is scheduled to make his first court appearance on December 3.