“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.”

Kobach said Ceballos is a legal permanent resident but not a U.S. citizen — calling him a citizen of Mexico who never should have been voting in American elections, let alone leading a Kansas town.

Jose Ceballos. (Coldwater, Kansas)

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said new tools from the Trump administration helped uncover the alleged fraud. “We now have tools, thanks to the current White House, that we haven’t had in over 10 years,” Schwab said. “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. We want to make sure that gets clarified.”

The SAVE program — run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Department of Homeland Security — lets government agencies verify immigration and citizenship status for things like licenses or voter rolls.

Locals expressed frustration, accusing state leadership of misleading them — including Republican gubernatorial candidate Philip Sarnecki, who shared his reaction on X.

Kansas is one of eight states requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, a law Kobach helped pioneer years ago.

In Coldwater, city leaders scrambled to contain the fallout. City Council President Britt Lenertz said Ceballos called an emergency meeting on Wednesday to address the charges

“At this time, our focus remains on ensuring that city operations continue to run smoothly and that the needs of our community are met,” Lenertz said. “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. It’s important that we respect both due process and the integrity of our local government.”

Coldwater officials later confirmed Ceballos would need to prove his citizenship to keep his seat. City Attorney Skip Herd said Ceballos is a green card holder who’s been registered to vote since 1990 — despite never being a U.S. citizen.

“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.

Under Kansas law, candidates for city office must be eligible voters and residents, though home rule gives cities some leeway. But as the case unfolds, the small Kansas town finds itself at the center of a national flashpoint over election integrity.