A quiet rural Kansas town is at the center of a startling legal case. Joe Ceballos, the mayor of Coldwater, faces criminal charges alleging he illegally voted in multiple elections despite not being a U.S. citizen.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Attorney General Kris Kobach announced six charges filed in Comanche County. These charges span elections held in 2022, 2023, and 2024, accusing Ceballos, a lawful permanent resident originally from Mexico, of unlawful voting.
Ceballos’s political career includes service as both mayor and a city councilman. The case highlights the ongoing, legally mandated process of maintaining accurate voter rolls – a process that includes cross-referencing with external databases to identify potential irregularities.
Attorney General Kobach, a long-time advocate for stricter immigration enforcement, insists noncitizen voting isn’t a rare occurrence. He argues it’s a genuine problem demanding attention, a sentiment echoed by many Republicans concerned about potential voter fraud.
The charges against Ceballos include perjury and voting while unqualified, carrying a potential prison sentence exceeding five years. Attempts to reach Ceballos for comment have been unsuccessful.
This isn’t Kobach’s first foray into challenging voting regulations. He previously championed a law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration, a measure ultimately struck down by a federal court in 2018.
The court found the law exceeded federal requirements and was based on “scant evidence” of noncitizen voter fraud. Despite this past defeat, Kobach maintains investigators now possess “unassailable evidence” against Ceballos.
While holding office as a city official also requires U.S. citizenship, Kobach clarified that Ceballos’s status as mayor, in itself, isn’t a criminal offense. Ceballos was recently on the ballot for reelection, but the results remain uncertified.
Kobach emphasized the current system relies heavily on trust – the assumption that individuals truthfully attest to their eligibility when registering and voting. He alleges Ceballos betrayed that trust.
State officials have recently begun utilizing a federal database to cross-reference voter rolls with immigration records. They anticipate this will uncover further instances of potential voting violations, signaling a broader effort to scrutinize voter eligibility.
Ceballos is scheduled to appear in court on December 3rd, marking the beginning of a legal battle that could have significant implications for election integrity debates within the state and beyond.
