Pope Leo XIV Casts Illinois Midterm Ballot, First Pontiff to Vote in a US Election
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Oct 30
Pope Leo XIV Casts Illinois Midterm Ballot, First Pontiff to Vote in a US Election
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Oct 30
Summary
Pope Leo XIV submitted a mail-in ballot in Illinois for the 3 November midterms, making him the first pope ever to vote in a U.S. election.
The Vatican said the 71-year-old Chicago-born pontiff voted because he sees participation in democratic processes as both a right and a duty of citizenship.
Will County records show he requested the ballot on 3 October; the vote comes weeks after lung cancer surgery, though the Vatican says his early-November trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru is still on.
The midterms will decide control of Congress in Donald Trump's final years, with polls favoring Democrats in the House and showing possible Senate gains as Trump campaigns in normally safe Republican states.
Leo, elected in May 2025 as the first U.S. pope, has repeatedly clashed with Trump over immigration and the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.