BREAKING: Noncitizen Mayor Busted on Multiple Criminal Charges After Winning Reelection – Previously Voted in Several Elections Despite His Status

A noncitizen mayor in Kansas has been busted on several charges after voting illegally in several elections despite his status.

As Fox News reported, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach announced they filed charges in Comanche County against Clearwater, Kansas Mayor Joe Ceballos, a permanent resident from Mexico, for voting in elections in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Kobach said Ceballos has been charged with three counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury. The Kansas Reflector notes that both are felony offenses.

Kobach also stated that his charges carry a maximum penalty of more than five years in prison and fines of up to $200,000.

Adding insult to injury, Ceballos was on the ballot for re-election on Election Day. He won 83% of the vote.

“Noncitizen voting is a real problem. It is not something that happens once in a decade. It is something that happens fairly frequently,” Kobach stated.

Kobach also noted that city officials, including mayors, are required by law to be U.S. citizens. This is not one of the offenses for which Ceballos is being charged, however.

The Kansas Attorney General went on to slam Ceballos for violating the public trust.

“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 said. “In this case, we allege that Mr. Ceballos violated that trust.”

Schwab said it would be up to the local governing board to decide what to do about the mayoral race after the election is certified.

Coldwater government leaders claim they did not find out about the situation until Wednesday.

“The Coldwater City Council were called in for a special meeting by Mayor Joe Ceballos on November 5th, 2025 at 1240 pm to discuss recent events that have transpired with the Kansas attorney general’s Office,” said city council president Britt Lenertz in a statement obtained by the Kansas Reflector.

Kobach and Schwab went on to say that they are utilizing a federal government database that assists with cross-checking voter rolls with immigration records. They believe this will help them discover more cases of voter fraud.

According to Fox News, Ceballos’s first court date is scheduled for December 3.

Kansas mayor charged with alleged voter fraud; state leader says ‘hundreds’ more cases expected

By:Morgan Chilson, November 5, 2025

pic-—Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, and Secretary of State Scott Schwab announced felony charges against Joe Ceballos, currently the Coldwater, Kansas, mayor, for voter fraud. (Photo by Morgan Chilson/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — The mayor of a small south-central Kansas town has been charged with committing fraud by voting in elections since 2022 even though he is not a United States citizen, the state’s attorney general and secretary of state said Wednesday. Attorney General Kris Kobach said Joe Ceballos, who garnered nearly 83% of the vote Tuesday for a second term as Coldwater mayor, was charged with three counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury. Both are felony offenses. “These charges carry a potential maximum penalty of up to 68 months imprisonment and up to $200,000 in fines,” Kobach said. The charges, filed in Comanche County, are based on Ceballos’ voting in the 2022 general election, the 2023 general election for local offices and the 2024 primary election, Kobach said.

Ceballos served two terms on the Coldwater City Council and was elected mayor in 2021, a position he is not qualified to hold if he is not a U.S. citizen although it is not a criminal violation, Kobach said. He referenced a Kansas statute that requires a city officer to be a qualified elector, which requires that person to be a United States citizen. “He is a legal permanent resident of the United States and a citizen of Mexico,” Kobach said. Schwab said it would be up to the local governing board to make a determination about the mayoral race after the election is finalized.

Coldwater government leaders did not find out about the situation until Wednesday. “The Coldwater City Council were called in for a special meeting by Mayor Joe Ceballos November 5th, 2025 at 1240 pm to discuss recent events that have transpired with the Kansas attorney general’s Office,” said city council president Britt Lenertz in a statement. Lenertz said the city council is currently focused on ensuring smooth operations in the city amid the controversy.

“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,” she said. “It’s important that we respect both due process and the integrity of our local government.” Lenertz said in a telephone interview that the city is unsure what, if any, implications it would have for city business if it is determined Ceballos has not been eligible to hold office. She said the city is reaching out for guidance on the issue. During a news conference in Topeka, Kobach and Secretary of State Scott Schwab said the state is actively pursuing cases like this by using the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database, which can be queried by states to determine a voter’s U.S. citizenship status.

According to The Center Square, 26 states are using the database to verify voter registration information. Schwab confirmed Kansas has begun using the SAVE database to check voter registrations, but also said the case against Ceballos was not compiled using the database.

Kobach has waged a campaign for years claiming significant voter fraud and pushing for stricter voting regulations, including proof of citizenship laws and showing photo identification at the polls. Schwab, who is the state’s top elections officer, said until Kansas began recently using the SAVE database, he had disagreed with Kobach that there was much of an issue. “We’re currently verifying. We don’t want any false positives, but attorney general, be prepared to be busy as we go through these and find out potential positives of people who are non-U.S. citizens that have voted,” Schwab said. “I was never really a big believer this happened. I always came from the angle of, let’s prove it’s not happening, and then we get the data, and it’s important we clean this up.”

Kobach said he expects there will be hundreds of people on the voter rolls who are not legally eligible to vote. Although that may be a small number compared to the 2 million registered to vote in Kansas, it matters, he said. The argument that illegal votes are a small percentage of total votes cast is a “red herring,” because in close races even a small number of votes can make a difference, Kobach said. “I would argue that 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.

Schwab said he believes elections in Kansas are secure. “Overwhelmingly, our elections are secure, but I’ve said it for seven years. We look at election security sort of like we look at cyber security. You can win today, but then you find out something new, and then you’ve got to find another way to make it better,” Schwab said.

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