The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has voted in the midterm elections in the United States.
In response to questions from the press, the Holy See press office confirmed in a statement the news that had been circulating in the United States.
“Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” it said. Moreover, the Vatican confirmed that the Chicago-born pope, “in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation…has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Oct. 29 that although he is leader of the Catholic Church, “Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV is still a registered voter in Illinois and requested a mail ballot for the midterm elections.” It said that according to the Will County clerk’s office chief of staff, Kim Fladhammer, “Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election.” The newspaper said the pope “is registered to a New Lenox address” (a southwest suburb of Chicago) and “made the request Oct. 3.”
The Sun-Times also reported that “[r]ecords show Prevost voted in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Republican primaries, as well as in the 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2024 general elections. He also voted in Democratic primaries in 2008 and 2010. He did not vote in Illinois’ March primary. In Illinois, voters do not have to register by party and can choose parties for their primary ballot.”
The Sun-Times said that “the pope will weigh in on the U.S. Senate race to replace Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. JB Pritzker’s reelection bid, as well as Will County judicial and county races, among other races.”
The news broke a week before Pope Leo is scheduled to set out on a 12-day journey to three Latin American countries, including Peru (Nov. 11-17), where he became a citizen in 2015 before being appointed bishop of Chiclayo.
Aware of the sensitivity of the matter, the Vatican said, “The Holy Father has also confirmed that, during his years of residence in Peru, he exercised his right to vote every time he had the possibility.” The Vatican statement says he voted “during his years of residence in Peru,” implying that he did not vote in the recent Peruvian general elections, April 12-13, 2026, to elect the president, vice presidents and the congress, or in the runoff election for the president on June 7.
Although his predecessor, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, kept his Argentine citizenship and passport after his election as pope on March 13, 2013, there is no evidence that he ever voted in the Argentine elections from Rome.
Indeed, as far as is known at the time of writing, neither of Leo’s other immediate predecessors—Karol Wojtyla from Poland, who was pope from 1978-2005, nor Joseph Ratzinger from Germany, who was pope from 2005 till his resignation in 2013—voted in elections in their homelands during the years of their respective pontificates. So in this, Leo would seem to be breaking new ground, voting in the United States while head of the Vatican City State.
The U.S. State Department views service as a foreign head of state as a “potentially expatriating act” (meaning it could result in the loss of U.S. citizenship and therefore the right to vote), but also states that such an action “will result in one’s expatriation only if done voluntarily with the intention of relinquishing U.S. citizenship,” which Robert Prevost has not done.
The first pope from the United States is now among the more than 43 million Americans who, according to The Associated Press, have “voted early in person or returned mail ballots.”
While casting one’s vote is a private matter, it is no secret that Pope Leo and President Trump clearly disagree, as evidenced by their public statements, on a number of important issues, including immigration, war in the Middle East, multilateralism and climate change. Indeed, since he was elected pope on May 8, 2025, Leo has not met or spoken by phone with President Trump.
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