Posted on 11/06/2025 1:56:34 PM PST by DFG
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Coldwater Mayor Jose “Joe” Ceballos, who was reelected on Tuesday, was charged by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach the next day.
In a news conference Wednesday, Kobach said Ceballos was facing criminal charges for three counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury. Both are non-person felonies.
“He is not a United States citizen,” Kobach said. “He is a legal permanent resident of the United States and a citizen of Mexico.”
Kobach said if Ceballos is convicted, the crimes can carry a maximum of 68 months in prison and a fine of up to $200,000.
Before the press conference, the Coldwater City Council held a special meeting called by Mayor Ceballos, the City of Coldwater announced on Facebook.
“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,” council President Britt Lenertz said. “It’s important that we respect both due process and the integrity of our local government.”
Ceballos was served a summons on the charges to appear in Comanche County court on Dec. 3.
During the conference, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab was also present. He said more “noncitizen voting” could be uncovered by a new national citizenship data system built by the Trump administration.
Kansas recently committed to use the database to confirm U.S. citizenship of people registered to vote.
“They could be a legal resident but not a citizen, and we want to make sure that gets clarified,” Schwab said. “If they voted, it is a crime. We have run that system, and we are currently verifying. We don’t want any false positives, but attorney general, be prepared to be busy.”
Schwab said the state is currently working on 10 years of voter roll maintenance.
There’s a judge in Rhode Island who says the AG in Kansas is totally wrong in this matter.
A non-citizen but a green card holder can run for any office except president/VP. His crime was not being elected mayor. His crime was voting. Only citizens can vote.
He can run for mayor of Tijuana.
If they voted, it is a crime.
But but democrats call them illegal citizens so it must be okay huh Moe.
It might be possible to find mayoral positions that don't require citizenship, but I couldn't identify one.
Just because we have a lot of readers...add federal senators to that (there is criminal exposure even by falsely attesting on official forms to eligibility).
OK, you beat me by 10 seconds...it has been a very long day! (;^)
Is there a meat packing plant in this town? The mayor doesn’t sound very “Kansan”.
Is that from US Constitution or some other source?
A POSTER BOY FOR MORE SHENANIGANS
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.