Pope Leo XIV Becomes the First Pope to Vote in a U.S. Election, Submitting a Mail Ballot From Chicago

Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope in history to vote in a U.S. general election. The Vatican confirmed Friday that the Chicago-born pontiff has submitted a mail-in ballot in Chicago ahead of Tuesday's November 3 midterm elections, the Associated Press and Reuters reported — a first not only for an American election but, one historian said, likely for any secular democratic election.

Leo, 71, is the first American-born pope, elected in May 2025, and he remains a United States citizen, registered to vote in Illinois under his birth name, Robert Francis Prevost, at an address in the Chicago suburb of New Lenox. He requested his mail ballot on October 3, Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff to the Will County clerk, told the Chicago Sun-Times, which first reported the request. The Vatican did not say which candidates he voted for.

The Holy See's statement framed the ballot as habit, not novelty: Leo 'has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen' whenever he was eligible to do so, including during the more than 20 years he lived in Peru as a missionary priest and bishop, and, the Vatican said, 'the Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.' Illinois election records show he has voted in five primaries since 2000 — taking a Democratic ballot twice and a Republican ballot three times — and in every general election since 2000 except 2020 and 2022, the AP reported.

His Illinois ballot this year carries the state's marquee races: a U.S. Senate seat opened by Dick Durbin's retirement and Gov. JB Pritzker's bid for a third term, alongside House, state and county contests. The pope's ballot will be counted with the rest of Will County's mail vote after the polls close Tuesday — one envelope among millions, and the only one ever sent in by a sitting pope.