Pope Leo XIV Votes by Mail: A First for a Sitting Pope
The Vatican confirmed on Friday, October 30, that Pope Leo XIV has voted in the United States midterm elections. The confirmation made history in a quiet way. Leo is the first pope known to have voted in a United States election. He did so by mail ballot from Chicago. The Vatican did not say which candidates he chose. A secret ballot stays secret, even for a pope. The statement instead stressed a principle. It said the pope believes in the right and the duty of citizens to take part in democratic processes.
The exact Vatican wording was careful and brief. It said Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen whenever he was eligible to do so. It added that, in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago. It also said he voted whenever he was eligible during his years of residence in Peru. The statement was issued by the Holy See Press Office on Friday morning. It followed reporting that first raised the story in Illinois. A Joliet radio station reported on October 23 that Leo had requested a mail ballot. The Chicago Sun-Times then reported on October 29 that the Will County clerk’s office had issued a ballot to the pope under his birth name. The Vatican confirmation on October 30 turned a local election-administration record into an international news story.
Leo was born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost. He is 71 years old. He became the first American-born pope when he was elected leader of the Catholic Church in 2025. He remains a United States citizen. He also holds Peruvian citizenship, acquired in 2015 after years living there as a missionary priest and later as a bishop. That dual history explains the Vatican’s two-part statement. It covers both his American voting and his voting while resident in Peru. It also explains why Chicago, not Rome, is the place named in the ballot record. A citizen living abroad may still vote in the place where he is registered. For Leo, that registration is in Illinois. The Will County clerk’s office said he requested a mail ballot on October 3. The Sun-Times reported that he is registered at a New Lenox address. The paper quoted Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff for the Will County clerk, as confirming that Robert Francis Prevost was on the list of people who requested a mail ballot for the upcoming election.
The timing added to the interest. The request was made on October 3, a full month before Election Day on Tuesday, November 3. Illinois voters may vote by mail without stating a special reason. Any registered voter in the state has that option. As of October 29, the county clerk’s office told one news outlet that the ballot had not yet been received back. The Vatican statement on October 30 said the ballot had been submitted. How it traveled from Vatican City to Illinois has not been publicly explained.
Pope Leo XIV Midterm Election 2026: What Was on the Illinois Ballot
The Illinois ballot itself is substantial. Voters in the state are choosing a successor to retiring Senator Dick Durbin, a longtime Democratic senator. They are also deciding whether to re-elect Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat seeking a third term. Those two statewide contests headline the ballot. The ballot also includes House races and county and judicial posts. One House contest mentioned in reporting pits Democratic Representative Jonathan Jackson against Republican Christian Maxwell.
The broader midterm context is familiar. Midterm elections, held halfway through a presidential term, typically test the party in the White House. This year is no exception. Voters will decide control of both chambers of Congress. They will also decide governorships and state offices that shape voting rules, education, and public services. News coverage has described the November 3 contests as among the most consequential in generations, a phrase used by both parties.
Leo’s past voting record has also drawn attention, and it complicates any simple partisan reading. According to voting records cited by the Sun-Times, he voted in the 2012, 2014, and 2016 Republican primaries. He voted in the 2008 and 2010 Democratic primaries. He voted in the general elections of 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2024. Illinois does not require voters to register by party. Voters choose a party ballot in a primary, but no party declaration is required in a general election. Records held by the Illinois State Board of Elections, as summarized in later reporting, show that since 2000 he voted in five primaries, requesting Democratic ballots twice and Republican ballots three times. He did not vote in the state’s March primary this year.
That mixed record is worth stating plainly because online reaction has often ignored it. Some commentators have tried to read the pope’s vote as a signal about the current president or the current campaign. Others have treated it as a rebuke or an endorsement. The Vatican statement supports neither reading. It says the pope voted as a citizen, as he has whenever eligible. It does not name a candidate, a party, or a ballot measure. The Associated Press, summarizing the record, noted that he has previously cast ballots for both parties. Reuters, reporting the Vatican confirmation, likewise noted that the Vatican did not say which candidates Leo had voted for.
Why a Pope Voting Matters, and Why It Does Not Change the Election
Why does this story matter beyond its novelty? First, it breaks a long-standing expectation. Popes, as heads of a sovereign city-state and a global church, are not usually thought of as voters in a national election. Leo’s American birth changes that expectation. He is the first American-born pope, and American citizenship carries voting rights that do not lapse on election to the papacy. Second, the story touches a sensitive question about the church and politics. The Catholic Church teaches that citizens should participate in public life. A pope voting by mail gives that teaching a personal example. It does not, however, tell American Catholics how to vote. The church does not endorse candidates in American elections. A pope’s private ballot is not a pastoral instruction. Third, the story arrives at a moment of intense political attention in the United States. Voters are already focused on November 3. A historic first in the final days of a campaign naturally draws coverage.
The reaction has also shown how quickly a factual story can acquire layers of commentary. One French newspaper called the vote a revolution, a word that captures surprise more than legal change. Social media users debated the delivery method, the pope’s past primary ballots, and his views on American politics. The Vatican confirmed submission. The county confirmed a request on October 3. Past records confirm a history of voting in both primaries and general elections. The ballot contents remain unknown. The delivery method remains undescribed. The pope’s reasons, beyond the stated belief in civic participation, remain his own. Those limits are not a failure of reporting. They are the boundary of what can be known about a secret ballot cast by a public figure who has chosen, so far, to let the act speak for itself.
Looking ahead, the story will likely fade into the larger election-night narrative once results arrive. Illinois results will be reported alongside results from across the country, including the Senate battlegrounds that will decide control of the chamber. The pope’s ballot will be counted with all other mail ballots under Illinois rules, subject to the same deadlines and checks. A Chicago-born pope, now 71 and leading the Catholic Church from Rome, has voted by mail in his home state. He is the first pope known to have done so in a United States election. He did so as a citizen, as he has whenever eligible, in Peru and in America alike. That is the story, and it is enough. Readers following the campaign trail, including the Trump and Obama campaign trail clashes, will recognize the same election calendar: a midterm vote on November 3, with every ballot, historic or ordinary, counted the same way.
Leo lived in Peru for more than 20 years as a missionary priest and later as a bishop, a period that shaped both his ministry and his citizenship. Peruvian citizenship, acquired in 2015, sits alongside his American citizenship rather than replacing it. That dual status is why the Vatican statement mentions both countries. It also explains why a pope based in Rome can still appear on a county list in Illinois. Citizenship, registration, and residence are distinct questions, and in this case they point to different places for different purposes.
Sources
USN reviewed reporting from multiple outlets for this story. Read more from Vatican News, USA Today and Reuters.