The mayor of a tiny Kansas community that travelled to reelection today has actually been billed with ballot unlawfully.
Jose “Joe” Ceballos, 54, won reelection in Coldwater, Kansas, on Tuesday. The following day, Kansas Chief law officer Kris Kobach billed Ceballos with ballot in numerous political elections unlawfully, stating he is not a united state resident.
Ceballos, that was very first chosen mayor in 2021, was billed with 3 matters of ballot without being certified and 3 matters of political election perjury for 3 political elections in November 2022, November 2023 and August 2024, according to court documents.
” In Kansas, it protests the legislation to elect if you are not a united state resident. We declare that Mr. Ceballos did it numerous times,” Kobach said in a press release.
Ceballos is a lawful irreversible citizen of the united state, the attorney general of the United States claimed.
Coldwater City Board Head of state Britt Lenertz informed ABC Information that the city board is collaborating with authorities to guarantee openness and due procedure.
The city center in Coldwater, Ks.
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” We identify the significance of openness and due procedure and are devoted to making certain that all activities taken by the City continue to be completely conformity with appropriate legislations and guidelines. Therefore, we are proactively looking for advice from the state degree to identify the proper strategy progressing. Our leading top priority is to promote the honesty of City procedures and preserve the general public’s trust fund as this issue remains to unravel,” Lenertz claimed.
At a press conference Wednesday, Kobach claimed Ceballos breached the trust fund of his components.
” In big component, our system today is based upon trust fund,” Kobach claimed at the presser. “Count on that when the individual indications the enrollment or indications the survey publications stating that he’s a certified elector or that he is an USA resident, that the individual is leveling. In this instance, we declare that Mr. Ceballos breached that trust fund.”
Before functioning as mayor, Ceballos offered 2 terms in the city board, authorities claimed.
Coldwater is a community of less than 700 individuals, according to the 2020 Census, and lies simply north of the Oklahoma boundary in main Kansas.
The mayor helms countless duties for the community, per the city’s website, consisting of supervising city board conferences, functioning as a speaker for the area and often tending to everyday procedures in the city.
Ceballos can deal with greater than 5 years behind bars and $200,000 in penalties if founded guilty, according to the Kansas Chief law officer’s Workplace.
His following court day is established for Dec. 3.
The mayor did not instantly reply to ABC Information’ ask for remark.
