Pope Leo XIV has voted in the 2026 US midterm elections using a mail-in ballot from his home state of Illinois, the Vatican confirmed on Friday, October 30, 2026. The Chicago-born pontiff, formerly known as Robert Francis Prevost, is the first sitting pope in history known to have cast a ballot in a US general election.
The confirmation followed a request the pope filed with Will County election officials in early October. That request set off a quiet, weeks-long process that moved a single ballot across two continents — from a suburban Chicago address to the Vatican City, and back again.
A Chicago-Born Pope Who Never Left the Voter Rolls
Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago and raised in Dolton, Illinois, a small suburb south of the city. He moved abroad decades ago for missionary work in Peru and later to Rome, but he never gave up his registration to vote in Illinois.
The pope remains registered at a family address in New Lenox, a village in Will County, where his brother John Prevost lives. Election records list him under his legal name, Robert Francis Prevost, not his papal name.
Illinois election law does not require voters to live in the state at the moment they cast a ballot. US citizens living overseas keep the right to vote in federal elections, and Illinois extends that right to state and local races as well through mail voting.
The Request, the Mailing, and the Confirmation
Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff at the Will County clerk’s office, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the pope’s request came through on October 3 under the name Robert Francis Prevost“on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election”.
The ballot was mailed out shortly after — records cited by The New York Times show it left Illinois on October 5. From there, it traveled to Vatican City, where the pope has lived since his election in May 2025.
The Vatican’s press office confirmed the completed ballot on Friday, October 30, less than a week before Election Day on November 3.
“The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,” the Vatican statement said.
The Holy See added that Leo “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen” and has done so “whenever he was eligible to do so,” including during his years living in Peru.
What Was on the Pope’s Ballot
Illinois voters in 2026 are deciding several major races, and the pope’s mail-in ballot includes all of them at the state and federal level.
The ballot covers Governor JB Pritzker’s reelection bid, the race to succeed retiring US Senator Dick Durbin, and a US House contest between Democratic Rep. Jonathan Jackson and Republican Christian Maxwell.
Local races in Will County, including judicial and county contests, also appear on the same ballot.
Election records do not show which candidates the pope selected. Illinois does not require voters to declare a party preference in general elections, and mail ballots are counted without any public record of individual choices.
A Voting Record That Crosses Party Lines
Robert Prevost has been voting in Illinois for more than two decades. State election records show he has cast ballots in at least 10 general elections since 2000, including by absentee ballot in the 2024 presidential election.
His primary voting history is split. Records from the Illinois State Board of Elections show he requested Democratic primary ballots in 2008 and 2010, then switched to Republican primary ballots in 2012, 2014, and 2016.
That shift followed a move from Cook County, a heavily Democratic area, to Will County, a more conservative suburban region.
Illinois voters can choose either party’s ballot in a primary without registering with that party, so the primary record does not prove party membership. Fact-checkers have noted that Prevost’s registration is listed as “undeclared,” not Republican.
He did not vote in Illinois’ March 2026 primary, according to election records.
Why This Is a First in Papal History
No modern pope is known to have voted in a national election while serving as head of the Catholic Church.
Giovanni Maria Vian, former director of the Vatican newspaper, told The New York Times he could not think of any pope who had voted in recent memory. Church historian Roberto Rusconi said an Italian pope would have had to travel to a polling place in Italy, and he had no memory of that ever happening.
Elisabetta Piqué, a biographer of Pope Francis, said Francis never voted in an Argentine election during his 12-year papacy. Vatican reporters who cover John Paul II and Benedict XVI said they did not believe either pope voted in Polish or German elections after taking office.
The difference for Leo XIV is citizenship and distance. He is an American citizen by birth, and US law allows citizens living abroad to vote by mail. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act covers US citizens overseas, including those in Vatican City.
Historians say he may also be the first pope to vote in any secular democratic election, not just a US one.
The Vatican’s Message and the Bishops’ Response
The Holy See framed the vote as a matter of civic duty, not politics.
“The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,” the Holy See Press Office said in its October 30 statement.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed the move.
“In voting, our Holy Father sets the example that encourages each citizen to exercise their civic responsibility,” said Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs for the conference.
Noguchi added that the bishops have stressed the focus is not on “who” one votes for but on the act of taking part.
How Illinois Will Count a Ballot From Rome
Illinois mail ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, November 3, but they can arrive up to two weeks after the election and still be counted.
As of the October 30 confirmation, the Vatican had not said exactly when the completed ballot left Rome or which mail service carried it. Will County officials had not confirmed receipt of the ballot at the time of the Vatican’s announcement.
The ballot’s journey from Vatican City to Joliet, Illinois, is roughly 4,500 miles. International mail between Rome and the Chicago area typically takes five to ten business days, though election officials say overseas ballots are often tracked and expedited.
Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich told the Chicago Sun-Times that the state has no special procedure for a papal ballot. “Any Illinois registered voter can vote by mail,” he said. “There is no such thing as an absentee ballot in Illinois law anymore”.
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The pope’s ballot will be processed like any other overseas mail ballot from Will County: verified against the voter roll, separated from its return envelope to protect secrecy, and counted after the election.
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