VATICAN CITY, Oct. 31 — Pope Leo XIV has made history by casting an absentee mail-in ballot in the upcoming United States midterm elections, marking the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church that a reigning pontiff has participated in a U.S. election.
The Holy See Press Office confirmed on Friday that the Chicago-born pontiff—legally registered under his birth name, Robert Francis Prevost—submitted his remote ballot to local election authorities in Illinois ahead of the November 3 polling day, framing the move as an expression of his longstanding commitment to civic participation.
“Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” the Holy See stated, underscoring that the head of the Catholic Church maintains that citizens share both a fundamental right and a moral duty to participate in democratic governance. While adhering to strict ballot confidentiality, the Vatican refrained from disclosing which candidates or political party received his vote.
Public election records cited by the Chicago Sun-Times and Will County Clerk officials show that the 71-year-old pontiff has remained a registered voter in suburban Illinois and formally requested a mail-in absentee ballot earlier in October.
Elected to the papacy in May 2025 as the 267th pontiff and the first American to lead the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV holds dual citizenship with Peru, where he served for over two decades as a missionary and diocesan bishop. Although he currently serves as the sovereign head of state of Vatican City, U.S. federal election statutes and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) protect the constitutional voting rights of eligible American citizens living abroad, regardless of official overseas roles or diplomatic functions.