Kansas Mayor Joe Ceballos faces criminal charges for allegedly voting as a non-U.S. citizen in multiple elections, raising concerns about voter fraud and registration integrity.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and Secretary of State Scott Schwab announced on Wednesday that they have filed criminal charges against Joe Ceballos, the mayor of Coldwater, Kansas. The charges allege that Ceballos, a lawful permanent resident from Mexico, voted in several elections despite not being a U.S. citizen.
The charges, which include perjury and voting without being qualified, stem from Ceballos’s participation in elections held in 2022, 2023, and 2024. If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of more than five years in prison.
Kobach and Schwab, both elected Republicans, revealed that six charges have been filed in Comanche County against Ceballos. The mayor previously served as a city councilman before taking on his current role.
In a broader context, the issue of noncitizen voting has been a point of contention among Republicans, who argue that it is a significant problem. Kobach, a long-time advocate for stricter immigration enforcement and voter ID laws, stated, “Noncitizen voting is a real problem. It is not something that happens once in a decade. It is something that happens fairly frequently.”
States are legally required to maintain accurate voter registration lists, a process often referred to as “cleaning” the voter rolls. This includes using external databases to identify noncitizens. However, Kobach acknowledged that these methods are not foolproof.
Ceballos’s case has drawn attention not only because of the allegations but also due to the implications for local governance. Kobach noted that city officials, including mayors, are required to be U.S. citizens, a point he emphasized even though it is not classified as a criminal offense.
As the investigation continues, Kobach has not disclosed how state officials determined that Ceballos allegedly voted as a noncitizen. However, he claimed that investigators possess “unassailable evidence” against the mayor.
Ceballos was on the ballot for re-election on Election Day, but the official results have yet to be certified. Kobach expressed concerns about the integrity of the electoral process, stating, “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. In this case, we allege that Mr. Ceballos violated that trust.”
In an effort to enhance the integrity of voter registration, Kobach and Schwab have begun utilizing a federal government database designed to cross-check voter rolls with immigration records. They anticipate that this initiative will help identify additional voting violations in the future.
Ceballos is scheduled to make his first court appearance on December 3.
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