Overview
- The Vatican Press Office confirmed on Friday that Pope León XIV cast a U.S. absentee ballot by mail to Chicago, saying he has voted as a U.S. citizen whenever eligible.
- Local election records and officials say Robert Francis Prevost, the pope’s birth name, requested an absentee ballot from the Vatican on Oct. 3 through Will County, Illinois.
- The Holy See declined to say which candidates or party the pope supported and public election records cited by reporters do not yet show whether a completed ballot was recorded as returned and counted.
- Prevost retains U.S. citizenship and a New Lenox, Illinois, registration and has a documented history of voting in U.S. primaries and general elections with both Democratic and Republican primary requests over the years.
- Reporting calls this the first confirmed instance of a pope voting in U.S. elections, a development that creates a new precedent, fuels debate about institutional neutrality, and could prompt diplomatic or administrative questions about officials who serve as foreign heads of state.