Pope Leo XIV has cast a mail-in ballot in the United States midterm elections, becoming the first pope known to vote in a US general election despite serving as the leader of Vatican City.
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The Vatican confirmed on Friday that the Chicago-born pontiff, formerly known as Robert Francis Prevost, submitted a mail-in ballot in Illinois ahead of the November 3 elections.
Leo, 71, was born in Chicago on September 14, 1955, and remains a United States citizen. He is registered to vote in Illinois, with records showing that he requested a mail-in ballot through the Will County Clerk’s Office on October 3.
The fact that Leo now leads Vatican City, an independent sovereign state, does not by itself prevent him from exercising his voting rights as a US citizen living abroad.
Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986, qualified American citizens residing outside the United States are permitted to register and vote by absentee ballot in federal elections.
The law generally allows overseas voters to vote in the jurisdiction where they were last domiciled in the United States before moving abroad.
Voting rights expert Richard Hasen of the UCLA School of Law explained that Leo’s position in the Vatican did not extinguish his voting rights.
“He’s an American citizen living abroad. He didn’t lose his voting rights when he moved to the Vatican,” Hasen said.
The Holy See Press Office also confirmed Leo’s continued participation in US elections.
“Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” the Vatican said.
“In keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago.”
The Vatican added that Leo had also exercised his voting rights while living in Peru, where he spent many years as a missionary priest and bishop.
“The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,” the statement added.
Leo holds American and Peruvian citizenship and has lived outside the United States for substantial periods of his life.
Vatican City, which has been recognised as an independent state since 1929, does not conduct popular political elections for its head of state. The pope is elected by the College of Cardinals.
Records from Illinois indicate that before becoming pope, Prevost had participated in several US elections.
Since 2000, records show that he requested Democratic primary ballots in 2008 and 2010 and Republican primary ballots in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
However, those records do not reveal which candidates he supported. In Illinois, voters participating in party primaries select a party ballot, while no party declaration is required for general elections.
Records also indicate that he participated in several general elections before becoming pope.
His latest ballot comes as Illinois voters prepare to decide a number of federal and state contests, including an open US Senate seat and the governorship.
Leo requested his ballot shortly before undergoing surgery in October to remove the lower lobe of his right lung after doctors detected a cancerous tumour.
The Vatican later confirmed that the tumour was a localised lung adenocarcinoma and that doctors determined no further treatment was necessary.
Despite becoming the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City in May 2025, Leo has retained his status as a US citizen eligible to participate in American elections.
His ability to vote therefore rests on his US citizenship and the legal protections available to qualified American voters residing overseas.
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act requires states to make absentee voting available to eligible US citizens abroad in federal elections, allowing them to continue exercising voting rights from outside the country.
Leo’s vote marks an unprecedented intersection between the papacy and American electoral politics, with Reuters and the Associated Press describing him as the first pontiff to cast a ballot in a US general election.
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