Pope Leo XIV Casts Mail-In Ballot in Illinois, a First for a Pontiff

Pope Leo XIV has voted in the U.S. midterm elections, becoming the first pope to take part in an American election. The Vatican confirmed on Friday that the Chicago-born pontiff submitted a mail-in ballot in Illinois ahead of the Nov. 3 vote, according to ABC News and the BBC.

The Holy See press office said Leo, formerly Robert Prevost, has exercised his right to vote as a U.S. citizen whenever he was eligible. It described his vote as an expression of his belief in the right and duty of citizens to take part in democratic processes.

How the pope's vote came together

The Chicago Sun-Times was the first to report the ballot request, citing the chief of staff of the Will County clerk's office in Illinois. The pope is registered at an address in New Lenox, a suburb southwest of Chicago, according to The Independent and ABC News. The steps below are drawn from those reports and from Illinois election records cited by ABC News.

• Since 2000: Illinois State Board of Elections records show Prevost voted in every general election except those in 2020 and 2022, according to ABC News.
• 2008 and 2010: While registered in Cook County, which is heavily Democratic, he requested Democratic primary ballots.
• 2012, 2014 and 2016: After moving to Will County, a more conservative suburban area, he requested Republican primary ballots.
• May 2025: He was elected pope after the death of Pope Francis, and has not returned to the United States since, The Independent reported.
• April: Tensions with President Donald Trump escalated after the pope called for peace following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, the BBC reported.
• Oct. 3: Leo requested a mail-in ballot from the Will County clerk's office, according to NBC News as cited by the BBC and the Sun-Times as cited by ABC News.
• Oct. 17: He was released from the hospital after surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung, ABC News reported. The BBC said the operation removed a lower lobe of the lung.
• Friday: The Vatican confirmed the vote.

It is unclear how the ballot was returned, ABC News reported. The pope's older brother, John Prevost, was in Rome this week with parishioners from a New Lenox parish, though no link to the ballot has been reported.

Why it matters: what the vote does and does not show

For Americans, the main point is that the pope is a U.S. citizen who, by the Vatican's account, treats voting as a civic duty. Illinois records show which party's primary ballots he requested, but not whom he chose. Illinois voters must declare a party preference to receive a primary ballot, while no such declaration is required in general elections. The records therefore reveal nothing about his choices on the Nov. 3 ballot.

His vote arrives in a charged political setting. The BBC reported that polls suggest Democrats are favored to win the House of Representatives and have a chance of gaining Senate seats. The Independent described the midterms as widely seen as a referendum on Trump's record. Illinois voters are deciding whether to give Gov. JB Pritzker a third term and who will fill the Senate seat left open by the retirement of Democrat Dick Durbin, ABC News reported.

Leo has also been at odds with the president. According to ABC News, Trump has criticized him for condemning the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and for urging dignified treatment of immigrants, and earlier this year called him weak and beholden to the radical left. Leo answered that he was not afraid of the Trump administration, and said he would keep speaking against war. ABC News reported that the public dispute has subsided in recent months.

What comes next

Elections will be held nationwide on Nov. 3, and early voting has begun in most states, the BBC reported. Leo, 71, is due to begin a 12-day tour of Argentina, Uruguay and Peru on Nov. 6, according to The Independent. The Vatican confirmed last week that the trip will go ahead as planned, the BBC said.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Independent, ABC News, BBC News