Pope Leo XIV has requested a mail-in ballot for the midterm elections taking place on Tuesday in the United States. If he votes, it would mark an unprecedented development in the history of the Catholic Church.
Robert Francis Prevost, the name under which the 71-year-old pope was born in Chicago, is registered to vote in Illinois. He submitted a request for a mail-in ballot on October 3.
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Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff at the Will County clerk’s office, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Prevost is among those who have requested ballots for the upcoming elections.
The pope is registered at his brother’s address in New Lenox, southwest of Chicago. However, at the time the news was reported, he had not yet voted.
Leo’s potential vote would be the first in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history: no sitting pope has previously voted in the elections of a secular state.
Leo XIV was elected pope in May 2025, becoming the first person of American origin to lead the Catholic Church. Before his election, he had voted in the Republican and Democratic primaries, as well as in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
This year’s elections are seen as an important political test for Donald Trump’s administration. Attention is focused on the Senate races following the departure of Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, the reelection of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, and representation in Congress for the state’s first district.
The possibility of the pope voting comes amid his public clashes with President Donald Trump. Leo has criticized U.S. immigration policies and the American-Israeli military strikes against Iran on February 28. During a Palm Sunday Mass in March, he described the bombing of Iran as a cruel act and warned that God could not accept the prayers of leaders whose hands were covered in blood.
“I am not afraid of the Trump administration, nor am I afraid to speak loudly about the message of the Gospel,” the pope declared.
Trump, for his part, has called the head of the Catholic Church “weak” and “terrible” on foreign policy, and has also criticized him for his positions on nuclear weapons.
Leo grew up in Dolton, near Chicago, but now lives in the Vatican. U.S. law allows citizens living abroad to vote by mail in U.S. elections under provisions governing the voting rights of American citizens overseas. Thus, Pope Leo XIV could become a unique case in the modern history of the papacy: a religious leader with a global role who continues to vote as an American citizen.
