Even the pope is voting. The Vatican confirmed Friday that Pope Leo XIV has sent in a mail-in ballot for the U.S. midterms. That makes the Chicago-born pontiff the first pope ever to vote in an American election, as the BBC and Chicago Sun-Times reported.
What the Vatican said
"Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so," the Holy See Press Office said in a statement reported by Vatican News. It added that "in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago."
The statement said he also voted whenever he was eligible during his years living in Peru. "The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes," it said.
How the pope votes
The Chicago Sun-Times broke the story. Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff at the Will County Clerk's Office, told the Sun-Times and NBC News that Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, requested a mail ballot on Oct. 3. CBS News reports his registered address is in New Lenox, Illinois. CBS also notes he holds both U.S. and Peruvian citizenship.
As of Thursday, the clerk's office told NBC News it hadn't yet received his completed ballot, which has to travel from Vatican City to Joliet.
Both sides of the ballot
Illinois voters pick a party ballot in primaries. According to Illinois election records reported by the Sun-Times and the AP, Prevost has voted in both Republican and Democratic primaries over the years. The ballot is secret, so nobody knows how he voted this time.
Fresh off surgery
The ballot request came just days before Leo's lung cancer surgery this month, CBS News reports. He was released from the hospital on Oct. 17 and is still planning a trip to South America next month.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
