Overview
- Vatican officials confirmed that Pope Leone XIV requested and mailed an absentee ballot to Chicago for the 2026 midterms, and Will County records list Robert Francis Prevost among absentee-ballot requesters with the request dated October 3.
- U.S. rules for citizens abroad, including the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, allow the Pope to request and return a ballot and the State Department notes that serving as a foreign head of state does not automatically revoke U.S. citizenship.
- Reporting reconstructed Prevost’s past participation in multiple primaries and general elections but there is no public information on how the Pope voted because ballots are secret; local reports say his brother John handled the ballot when returning it to U.S. authorities.
- The choice comes during repeated public tensions between Leone XIV and President Trump over issues such as immigration and the war in Iran, giving the act symbolic weight even though it creates no apparent legal consequences.
- Commentators call the move unprecedented for a modern pope and say it could sharpen public debate about the Pope’s dual civic role, increase scrutiny of Vatican‑U.S. relations, and influence how U.S. Catholics think about civic participation.