Pope Leo XIV becomes the first pope to vote in a US election, sending a mail-in ballot for the midterms
Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope in history to vote in a United States election. The Holy See Press Office confirmed on Friday, 30 October, that the Chicago-born pontiff had submitted a mail-in ballot in Chicago ahead of the 3 November midterm elections, saying he has voted as a US citizen whenever he was eligible.
In a short note to journalists, the Holy See Press Office said Leo "has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so", and that, in keeping with that practice, he had submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago. The pope also confirmed that he voted whenever he could during his years living in Peru. The statement said he believes in "the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes". It did not say how he voted.
Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, became the first American pope in May 2025, which also makes him the first pope able to take part in a US election. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported on Thursday that he is still a registered voter in Illinois. The chief of staff of the Will County clerk's office, Kim Fladhammer, told the paper that Prevost had asked for a vote-by-mail ballot on 3 October. CBS News reported that his registered address is in New Lenox, a suburb south-west of Chicago, and that the request came days before his lung cancer surgery this month.
On Thursday the clerk's office told NBC News it had not yet received the completed ballot, which has to travel from Vatican City to Joliet, the county seat. Illinois election records cited by US media show that Prevost has voted in past general elections, including in 2024, and has at times taken part in both Democratic and Republican primaries. Illinois voters do not register by party.
The midterm elections on 3 November will decide control of the US House of Representatives and a third of the Senate, as well as many state and local offices. The 71-year-old pope resumed his public schedule this month after doctors said the tumour removed from his lung was localised.