Pope Leo votes in US midterm elections

Pope Leo XIV cast a mail-in ballot in Chicago, the city of his birth, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, according to the Vatican.

The Vatican’s press office stated that the pope exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, a practice he has followed whenever eligible.

The Vatican did not disclose which candidates Leo voted for, though he is a citizen of the United States, Peru, and the Vatican.

US federal law permits citizens living abroad, including those working for foreign governments, to vote via absentee ballot.

Leo requested a mail-in ballot on October 3, just 10 days before undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous lung tumor. He resumed activities at the Vatican after being released from the hospital on October 17.

Since 2000, Leo has voted in five primary elections as Robert Prevost, requesting Democratic ballots twice and Republican ballots three times, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records.

Illinois voters must declare a party preference to receive a primary ballot. Prevost, registered in heavily Democratic Cook County, requested Democratic ballots in 2008 and 2010, and Republican ballots in 2012, 2014, and 2016 after moving to Will County.

Since Leo’s election as pope in May 2025, US President Donald Trump has engaged in several public disputes with the pontiff, criticizing him for opposing the US-Israel war on Iran and challenging the administration’s immigration policies.