Mayor of Kansas Town to Be Deported After Voting in Multiple Elections

The Mexican-American mayor of a tiny Kansas town could face deportation after being accused of voting in multiple elections as a non-U.S. citizen.

Coldwater Mayor Joe Ceballos, 51, a legal permanent resident from Mexico, allegedly voted in elections between 2022 and 2024. He was first elected mayor in 2021 after serving eight years on the city council and was re-elected on November 4. The very next day, he was accused of voter fraud for claiming to be a U.S. citizen when registering to vote.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach charged Ceballos with three counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury. If convicted, the charges carry a maximum sentence of 68 months in prison, and the Department of Homeland Security says he would face deportation.

“This alien committed a felony by voting in American elections. If convicted, he will be placed in removal proceedings,” said Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

Ceballos, who received his green card in 1990, applied for U.S. citizenship earlier this year in February. DHS says he also lied on his naturalization application by claiming he had never previously represented himself as a U.S. citizen.

Ceballos’ daughter, Jewell Ceballos Falletti, told supporters on GoFundMe that her father “never intended to violate the law.” She added, “While on a high school field trip to the Comanche County Courthouse, the County Clerk encouraged Dad and his fellow students to register to vote. Dad truly believed his status as a legal U.S. resident gave him the right to vote. It was an honest mistake, and we pray it doesn’t cost him the life in America he has worked so hard to build.”

Kobach, a Republican, said he could not reveal how authorities discovered Ceballos’ citizenship status because the investigation is ongoing. He also noted that city officers in Kansas must be U.S. citizens under state law, a requirement unrelated to the voter fraud charges.

Ceballos’ case comes as debates over voter eligibility continue nationwide. The Trump administration is pushing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship for federal elections. The House passed the bill in April, and it now awaits a Senate vote.

Kansas has a history of strict voter ID laws. In 2011, the state passed the Kansas Secure and Fair Elections (SAFE) Act, requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. While intended to prevent fraud, the law ended up blocking roughly 31,000 eligible voters. It was struck down in 2018 as unconstitutional.

Coldwater, a rural town near the Kansas-Oklahoma border, has fewer than 700 residents, making this case all the more striking in a community that typically sees little political drama.