The Chicago-born leader of the Catholic Church has requested a mail ballot for the midterm elections, which would make him the first pope to vote in a U.S. election.
Pope Leo XIV, a registered voter in Illinois, is on the list of voters who requested a mail-in ballot for the Nov. 3 election, according to the Will County clerk’s office.
The pope, whose given name is Robert Francis Prevost, made the request Oct. 3.
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Public records show that he voted in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Republican primaries, and cast ballots in the 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2024 general elections. He also voted in Democratic primaries in 2008 and 2010. He did not vote in Illinois’ March primary.
Illinois Voters do not have to register by party and can choose which party’s primary to vote in.
The clerk’s office said it has not yet received a completed ballot from the pope, who had lung cancer surgery this month.
His ballot would be sent to Joliet, Illinois.
The pope will weigh in on solidly blue races.
Rep. Jonathan Jackson, the son of the late civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and the brother of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., represents the pope and is running for re-election.
Pope Leo will also cast a ballot in the state’s governor’s race and U.S. Senate race, as well as county judicial races.
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