Pope Leo seeks to vote by mail in US midterm elections, a rare occurrence in the history of the papacy

Pope Leo XIV has requested to vote in Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States, raising the possibility of an unusual event in the history of the Catholic Church. The Vatican leader has applied for a mail-in ballot.

Robert Francis Prevost, 71, who was born in Chicago, is registered to vote in Illinois. He submitted his request for a mail-in ballot on October 3.

The information was disclosed by Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff in the office of the Will County clerk. He told the Chicago Sun-Times that Prevost is on the list of citizens who have requested ballots for the upcoming elections.

The Pope is registered at his brother’s address in New Lenox, southwest of Chicago. At the time the news was reported, he had not yet voted.

If Pope Leo votes, it would be the first time in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church that a sitting pope has voted in the elections of a secular state.

Leo XIV, elected in May 2025, is the first pope of American origin. Before he was elected to lead the Vatican, he had voted in the Republican and Democratic primaries, as well as in the 2024 US presidential election.

This year’s elections are seen as an important political test for Donald Trump’s administration. In Illinois, attention is focused on the Senate race following the departure of Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, Governor JB Pritzker’s reelection bid, and the contest for representation of the state’s first congressional district in the US Congress.

The possibility that the Pope may vote comes amid his open public clashes with President Donald Trump. Leo has criticized US immigration policies, as well as the US-Israeli military strikes on Iran on February 28. During a Palm Sunday Mass in March, he called the bombing of Iran a cruel act and said 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 said.

Trump, for his part, has described the head of the Catholic Church as “weak” and “terrible” on foreign policy, and has also criticized his positions on nuclear weapons.

Leo grew up in Dolton, near Chicago, but now lives in the Vatican. US law allows citizens living abroad to vote by mail in US elections under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. If he votes, Pope Leo XIV would represent a unique case in the modern history of the papacy: a religious leader with a global role who continues to exercise his right to vote as an American citizen.