Pope Leo XIV Casts a Mail-In Ballot in the U.S. Midterms, the First Pope to Vote in an American Election
The Holy See Press Office confirmed that the Chicago-born pontiff voted by mail in Illinois, as he has whenever eligible. He requested the ballot Oct. 3, days before lung surgery.
Pope Leo XIV has cast a mail-in ballot in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, making him the first pope reported to vote in an American election. The Holy See Press Office confirmed to Fox News Digital on Friday that he submitted his ballot in Illinois, and said he has voted "whenever he was eligible to do so" as a U.S. citizen, including during his years living in Peru.
Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, is the first American-born pope in the Church's history of more than 2,000 years. The Will County clerk's office told the Chicago Sun-Times that he requested a mail-in ballot on Oct. 3. The clerk's chief of staff, Kim Fladhammer, confirmed that his name appears on the list of vote-by-mail requesters.
Illinois law allows any registered voter in the state to vote by mail. Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the state Elections Board, said voters needed an excuse before 2010 but no longer do. The pope's ballot includes the governor's race, in which incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker faces Republican Darren Bailey and independent Collin Corbett.
The Vatican has not said how Leo voted in any race, and the Will County clerk's office and Pritzker's campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. Ballots in Illinois are secret, and there is no public record of a voter's choices.
The ballot request came just days before a major medical event. The Vatican announced on Oct. 13 that Leo had undergone surgery in Rome to remove a small lung tumor. On Oct. 21, his doctors said no further cancer treatment was needed.
Registered voters living abroad, including military personnel and civilians, routinely cast ballots by mail, and federal law allows them to do so.
ABC 7 Chicago reported that Leo is registered to vote in New Lenox, a suburb in Will County southwest of Chicago, which fits with the county clerk's confirmation that his request came through that office.
Leo left the Rome hospital four days after the lung operation and returned to papal work within days. The Vatican has described the tumor as small and caught at a very early stage, and his doctors said on Oct. 21 that he needed no further cancer treatment. That makes his vote one of the first public acts of a pope in recovery who is also, uniquely, a voter in his hometown state.
The news arrives as the midterms enter their final days, with Election Day set for Nov. 3. Mail ballots must generally be returned by local deadlines that vary by state, and Illinois counts ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive within a set window afterward.
