TOPEKA – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach on Tuesday announced his office filed election crimes charges against Jose Luis Gomez, Sr. of Hutchinson, according to a media release from the attorney's general's office.
Officials from Kobach's office filed the charges in Reno County. Gomez faces one count of voting without being qualified and two counts of election perjury. The charges are nonperson felonies.
Gomez is a convicted felon and is currently in custody in Oklahoma pending deportation, following federal immigration proceedings.
“Voting by noncitizens, including both legal and illegal aliens, is a very real problem. Every time a noncitizen votes, it cancels out a U.S. citizen’s vote. Unfortunately, there are likely to be more cases as we continue to discover these cases," Kobach said. "The claim that the ACLU has been making for years, namely, that this sort of illegal voting by aliens does not occur, is once again proven false. It's time to stop believing their lies."
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab referred the case to Kobach’s office. The Secretary of State’s office is utilizing the SAVE program to identify Kansas electors who are not U.S. citizens.
Prior to election as attorney general, Kobach served two terms as secretary of state. During that time, Kobach led the charge to stop noncitizens from illegally voting in Kansas elections. Eight states, including Kansas, have passed laws requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in at least some cases, but the laws have only been implemented in four of those states, including Arizona, New Hampshire, Ohio and Wyoming. A federal court struck down the Kansas proof-of-citizenship law in 2018.
Kobach remains committed to ensuring that only qualified electors cast votes in Kansas elections.
Special Agent in Charge Matt Simpson of Kobach’s office investigated the case. First Assistant Attorney General Stacy Edwards is prosecuting.