Pope Requests Mail-in Ballot For Midterms
Pope Leo may make history if he mails in the ballot he reportedly requested for next week’s midterm elections. This would make him the first sitting pope in the Catholic Church’s… — by Sandra Rhodes
FaithTap · Oct 30, 2026 · 1 min read
By Sandra Rhodes (/journals/sandra-rhodes)
Pope Leo may make history if he mails in the ballot he reportedly requested for next week’s midterm elections.
This would make him the first sitting pope in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history to vote in an election.
The pope has repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump over a variety of issues, including immigration, foreign policy, and military action.
He is still a registered voter in Illinois despite leading the Catholic Church from Vatican City.
The Will County Clerk’s Office confirmed Thursday that Leo, registered under his birth name Robert Francis Prevost, requested a ballot on Oct. 3 ahead of the Nov. 3 elections.
“Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election,” Kim Fladhammer, the office’s chief of staff, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The pope is registered at an address in New Lenox, a Chicago suburb where his brother, John Prevost, lives.
Election officials said Thursday that his completed ballot had not yet been received. It remains unclear if he has cast his vote.
If he does cast his vote, Leo is believed to become the first sitting pontiff to participate in a civil election.
Records reviewed by journalist Christopher Hale on his Letters from Leo Substack show Leo previously voted in Democratic primaries in 2008 and 2010 plus the in Republican primaries in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
He also voted in the 2024 presidential election. Illinois voters do not register by political party and can select either party’s primary ballot.
Leo, elected in May 2025 as the first U.S.-born pope, is currently recovering from surgery earlier this month to remove part of his right lung following a cancer diagnosis.