Pope Leo votes by mail for midterms, becoming first-ever pope to vote in U.S. election 

The Vatican confirmed Friday that Pope Leo XIV submitted a mail-in ballot for the midterm elections, making history as the first pope to vote in a U.S. election.

From Chicago, Leo is an American citizen and the first U.S.-born pontiff. The Vatican said he “exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so.”

“In keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago,” the Vatican said, adding that “the Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.”

In Illinois, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker is up for reelection, and a Senate race is underway to fill retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat.

The Chicago Sun-Times first reported Leo’s mail-in ballot request, citing Will County Clerk’s Office Chief of Staff Kim Fladhammer.

Fladhammer also confirmed to Heartlander News that “Robert Prevost is on the list of individuals” who requested a mail-in ballot.

President Donald Trump has feuded publicly with the pope, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” and criticizing him for commenting on politics and the Iran war.

“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in April. “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”

Leo responded that he doesn’t see his role as political and said he does not want to get into a debate with Trump, but that he will continue speaking out against war and for peace.

“Too many people are suffering in the world today,” he said, adding that he has no fear “of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel.”

About 2.2 million citizens living abroad are of voting age and eligible to vote, according to federal government statistics in 2024. Voting from another country requires updating voter registration and requesting an absentee ballot. Out of the 2.2 million eligible voters, only 11% voted in 2024. Of the eligible voters abroad, the most live in Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan.

(Image credit: X/Whitesox)