WASHINGTON — Pope Leo XIV cast a ballot in Illinois’ midterm elections despite now serving as the sovereign of a foreign state. However, anyone hoping to collect President Trump’s proposed $1 million reward for reporting voter fraud should not bother filing a claim.
Leo, 71, was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago on Sept. 14, 1955. Online Illinois voting records reviewed by The Post indicate that he remains registered at the suburban New Lenox home of his older brother, John.
“He’s an American citizen living abroad. He didn’t lose his voting rights when he moved to the Vatican,” said Richard Hasen, a voting rights specialist at UCLA School of Law.
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 establishes how Americans living outside the United States may participate in elections.
Under the law, states must allow “overseas voters to use absentee registration procedures and to vote by absentee ballot.”
Those voters may cast ballots for offices “in the last place in which the person was domiciled before leaving the United States.”
Vatican City has been an independent state since 1929. It operates as an absolute monarchy and does not hold political elections. Unlike most countries, which generally base citizenship on birthplace or parentage, Vatican citizenship is granted through an application process and is held for life only by the pope.
Leo is also a citizen of the United States and Peru. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that he requested a mail-in ballot from the Will County clerk’s office on Oct. 3, 10 days before surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.
It remains unknown when the ballot was sent back, but the Vatican press office confirmed Friday that the pope believes in “the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.”
“Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” the statement said. “In keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago.”
“The Holy Father has also confirmed that, during his years of residence in Peru, he exercised his right to vote whenever he was eligible to do so.”
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Since 2000, records from the Illinois State Board of Elections show that Prevost voted in five primary elections. He requested Democratic ballots twice and Republican ballots three times.
The records do not identify the candidates he supported. Illinois voters must select a party preference when requesting a primary ballot.
That requirement does not apply to general elections.
Although Prevost was registered in heavily Democratic Cook County, he requested Democratic primary ballots in 2008 and 2010. After moving to the more conservative suburban Will County, he requested Republican ballots in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
The records further indicate that he voted in every general election since 2000 except those held in 2020 and 2022.
Leo’s congressional district is represented by Rep. Jonathan Jackson, an Illinois Democrat and son of the late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
The younger Jackson is seeking another term in the reliably Democratic district, where he faces Republican challenger Christian Maxwell.
Illinois is also holding a Senate contest between Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Republican attorney Don Tracy. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pursuing a third term against former Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey.
Democrats are widely expected to win both contests by substantial margins.
With Post wires
