Non-Citizen Mayor Charged With Election Fraud One Day After His Reelection

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R) announced on Wednesday that Coldwater Mayor Jose Ceballos is being charged for election fraud, just one day after Ceballos was reelected.

Ceballas is a green card holder and legal permanent resident, but he is not a U.S. citizen, according to Kobach. He is a citizen of Mexico and his application for citizenship in February raised questions about whether he can legally hold his current office, according to Coldwater city attorney Skip Herd, who spoke to local media in Kansas.

“He’s been a registered voter since 1990. He applied for citizenship in February of this year, and through that, raised the issue of whether he was a legal citizen,” Herd said.

Kobach accused the mayor of violating public “trust.”

“In large part, our system right now is based on trust. Trust that when the person signed the registration or signs the pollbooks saying that he’s 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.”

Ceballos is facing three counts of voting without being qualified, and three counts of election perjury. If convicted, he could face more than five years behind bars and a $200,000 fine.

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said officials have been using a program to go through their current voter rolls.

“We now have tools, thanks to the current White House, that we haven’t had in over 10 years that we can check through the SAVE program, to find out if folks end up on our voter rolls. And they could be a legal resident, but they’re not a citizen.” Schwab said.

Ceballas was informed he can finish out the two remaining months of his current term. If his citizenship is not approved by the end of that current term, the city council president will step into the mayor’s role.

Watch above via WIBW.