VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV has made history as the first pope to cast a ballot in a U.S. general election.
The Vatican said Friday that the Chicago-born pontiff voted by mail in Chicago ahead of November’s midterm elections, reflecting his long-held support for civic engagement.
Leo, formerly known as Robert Prevost, “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen” whenever he was eligible, the Holy See press office said.
The Vatican added that he also voted while living in Peru when eligible to participate.
“The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes,” the statement said.
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported Leo’s vote, citing the chief of staff at the Will County clerk’s office. According to the official, the pope, who is registered at an address in New Lenox, Illinois, requested a mail-in ballot on Oct. 3.
It remains unclear how Leo returned the ballot. His brother, John Prevost, was in Rome this week accompanying parishioners from St. Jude’s, an Augustinian-run parish in New Lenox.
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The elder Prevost attends Mass at the parish, where Leo spoke in 2024 while serving as a cardinal.
Illinois State Board of Elections records show that Robert Prevost voted in five primary elections since 2000, requesting Democratic ballots twice and Republican ballots three times.
The records do not identify which candidates he supported. Illinois voters must indicate a party preference to receive a primary ballot, since primaries determine each party’s nominees for the general election. Voters do not have to make that declaration in general elections.
While registered in heavily Democratic Cook County, Prevost requested Democratic primary ballots in 2008 and 2010.
After moving to the more conservative suburban county of Will, he requested Republican primary ballots in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
The records further indicate that he cast a ballot in every general election since 2000 except those held in 2020 and 2022.
