A day after securing reelection, Coldwater Mayor Jose Ceballos was arrested on charges that he illegally voted despite not being a U.S. citizen.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach confirmed that holding elected office while not a citizen violates state law. “He is not a United States citizen,” Kobach said Wednesday. “He is a legal permanent resident of the United States and a citizen of Mexico.”
Ceballos faces three felony counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury, according to KSN-TV. If convicted, he could face up to 68 months in prison and fines totaling $200,000. He is scheduled to appear in court next month.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab indicated that further cases of noncitizen voting may be uncovered. The state is using a federal tool, implemented during the Trump administration, to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.
“They could be legal residents but not citizens, and we want to make sure that gets clarified,” Schwab said. “If they voted, it is a crime.”
The charges against Ceballos relate to votes cast in the 2022 general election, 2023 general election, and 2024 primary election, according to Kobach and the Kansas Reflector.
Ceballos, who previously served two terms on the Coldwater City Council and was first elected mayor in 2021, is technically ineligible to hold office under Kansas law. State statutes require officeholders to be qualified electors, a status that mandates U.S. citizenship.
Schwab noted that the state had not previously identified issues with voter rolls until federal tools became available.
“We’re currently verifying. We don’t want any false positives, but the attorney general should be prepared as we go through these cases and identify potential non-U.S. citizens who have voted,” Schwab said. “I was never a big believer this happened, but now that we have the data, it’s important to clean this up.”
Kobach emphasized that even if noncitizen votes are few, they still undermine the voting rights of U.S. citizens. “Even when it doesn’t affect an outcome, it still effectively takes the vote away or cancels the vote of a U.S. citizen,” he said.
In response to the arrest, the Coldwater City Council released a statement on Facebook:
“At this time, our focus remains on ensuring that city operations continue to run smoothly and that the needs of our community are met. While the recent allegations involving the mayor are understandably concerning, we will allow the proper legal process to take its course before making any further comments. It’s important that we respect both due process and the integrity of our local government.”
The case has drawn attention statewide as officials review voter rolls and evaluate potential gaps in election oversight, underscoring ongoing concerns about election integrity in Kansas.
