Pope Leo XIV has submitted his mail-in ballot in Illinois for the midterm elections, becoming the first pope to vote in a US election, according to the Holy See Press Office.
The Chicago-born pontiff is the first US citizen to hold the Vatican's highest seat. He was selected in May 2025.
The press office said the pope "has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so," including during his years in Peru. It quoted a statement saying "The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes."
NBC News reported that the pope requested his mail-in ballot from the Will County Clerk's Office on 3 October. The Vatican announced less than two weeks later that he had surgery to remove a lower lobe of his right lung after a lung cancer diagnosis. The Vatican confirmed last week that the pope, 71, will travel as planned to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in early November.
Tensions between the pope and President Donald Trump escalated in April, after the pope called for peace following US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Trump said of the pope: "I don't think he's doing a very good job." He added: "We don't like a Pope that's going to say that it's OK to have a nuclear weapon." Pope Leo responded, according to Reuters: "The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace."
Elections will be held nationwide on 3 November. Polls suggest Democrats are favored to gain control of the House of Representatives, according to the report.