Pope Leo has voted from the Vatican by postal ballot in the US midterm elections

LAST UPDATE | 6 hrs ago

POPE LEO XIV has voted from the Vatican via postal ballot for next week’s US midterm elections.

It’s the first known time a pope has voted in a political election.

The Chicago-born pontiff is still registered to vote in his home state of Illinois and the Vatican today confirmed that he cast a vote.

The Vatican said Leo voted to express his “belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes”.

A spokesperson added that Leo “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so”.

The Vatican press office confirmed that, “in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago.”

“The Holy Father has also confirmed that, during his years of residence in Peru he exercised his right to vote whenever he was eligible to do so,” noted the Vatican press office.

The request was confirmed by the Will County clerk’s office to the Chicago Sun-Times, which reported that Leo applied on 3 October under his birth name, Robert Francis Prevost.

“Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election,” the office’s chief of staff, Kim Fladhammer, told the newspaper.

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The Pope is registered at an address in New Lenox, southwest of Chicago. 

Americans go to the polls on Tuesday, 3 November, in elections that will determine control of Congress for the remaining two years of Donald Trump’s presidential term.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and roughly a third of the Senate are being contested. Voters will also cast ballots in a number of state and local races. 

In Illinois, where the Pope is eligible to cast his ballot, voters will choose a successor to retiring Democratic senator Dick Durbin.

The state’s lieutenant governor, Democrat Juliana Stratton, is running against Republican Don Tracy and the American Center Party’s Whitfield Harrington Jr.

In a separate race, Democratic governor JB Pritzker is seeking re-election, with Republican Darren Bailey among his opponents.

The Sun-Times reported that Leo previously participated in both Democratic and Republican primaries, as well as several general elections, including in 2024.

Illinois voters do not register by political party and can choose which party’s primary ballot to request, so it’s not known who he supported. 

Leo has publicly challenged Trump administration policies, including its approach to immigration and the war in Iran.

After Trump criticised him in April, the Pope told reporters he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and would continue speaking out against war.

-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper