VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope in history to vote in a US general election. The Vatican confirmed on Friday that the Chicago-born pontiff had submitted a mail-in ballot in Chicago ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, the Associated Press reported.

Source: Associated Press

Leo, formerly Robert Prevost, “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen” and has done so “whenever he was eligible to do so,” the Holy See press office said in a statement. The statement said he had also voted while living in Peru whenever he was eligible.

Source: Associated Press

Leo's vote was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, which quoted the chief of staff at the Will County clerk's office as saying the pope, registered at a New Lenox address, requested a mail-in ballot on October 3. The Associated Press said it was unclear how Leo returned the ballot.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times via Associated Press

The National Catholic Register, citing the Vatican's October 30 confirmation, said Leo cast an absentee ballot in his home state of Illinois. Leo, elected in May 2025, is the first pope from the United States; he remains a US citizen and also holds Peruvian citizenship.

Source: National Catholic Register

Voting records held by the Illinois State Board of Elections, cited by the Associated Press, show that since 2000 Prevost has voted in five primary elections, requesting Democratic ballots twice and Republican ballots three times, and submitted ballots in every general election since 2000 except those in 2020 and 2022. The records show participation only; they do not reveal whom he voted for, and the Vatican has not disclosed his choices in the November 3 midterms, where Illinois voters are deciding races including governor and the US Senate seat being vacated by Dick Durbin.