Kansas Mayor Charged With Allegedly Voting as Noncitizen. Kansas officials charged Joe Ceballos, mayor of Coldwater, with multiple election-related crimes on Wednesday, alleging he voted in several elections despite not being a U.S. citizen.
Scott Schwab, the state’s Republican Secretary of State, and Attorney General Kris Kobach, also a Republican, announced six charges against Ceballos, a legal permanent resident from Mexico. The alleged violations span elections in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Ceballos previously served on Coldwater’s city council before becoming mayor, Fox News reported.
Kobach, known for his advocacy of stricter voter ID laws and immigration enforcement, said state officials rely on federal databases to identify noncitizen voters, though he acknowledged the system is not flawless. “Noncitizen voting is a real problem,” he said. “It happens fairly frequently.” Court documents indicate that Ceballos faces charges including lying under oath and voting without qualification, with potential penalties exceeding five years in prison. While Kobach emphasized that local officials like mayors are required to be U.S. citizens, he clarified that holding office without citizenship is not a criminal offense. Ceballos is scheduled for his first court appearance on December 3. State officials said they will continue reviewing voter registration records using federal immigration data to detect possible irregularities.
