Pope Leo will vote from the Vatican, by mail, in Illinois' midterm election

He may be the leader of the Catholic church, but Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV is still a registered voter in Illinois and requested a mail ballot for the midterm elections.

That's according to the Will County clerk's office.

"Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election," Kim Fladhammer, Will County clerk's office chief of staff, told the Sun-Times. The pope made the request on Oct. 3.

That mail ballot had to travel a long way — from Joliet to the Vatican City, where Pope Leo has led the Catholic church since white smoke appeared from the Sistine Chapel in May 2025.

Records show Prevost voted in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Republican primaries, as well as 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. In Illinois, voters do not have to register by party and can choose parties for their primary ballot.

"There is no such thing as an absentee ballot in Illinois law anymore. So anyone can vote by mail if they so choose. There is also a law called UOCAVA, The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act that is mostly for the military, but it's also for U.S. citizens who are overseas," Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections said. "...Any Illinois registered voter can can vote by mail. Until 2010, it was considered absentee, and you had to have an excuse. But that's all gone away. So that's obviously what he's doing."

Pope Leo and President Donald Trump have had some public feuds since the papal leader was elected, including clashes about the war in Iran, immigration enforcement and Venezuela. The pope has been a vocal critic of mass deportations and family separation and has voiced his concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence and has strongly opposed military strikes and armed conflicts.

Trump in April faced backlash for calling the head of the Catholic church “terrible for foreign policy” and posting a since-deleted AI-generated image of the president as Jesus.

After nearly a year of addressing concern over Trump administration policies, but never name-dropping, Leo directly addressed Trump’s attack aboard the papal plane headed to Algeria, according to the Associated Press.

“I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for,” Leo said.

Pope Leo returned to the Vatican on Oct. 18, four days after having part of his right lung removed. The surgery confirmed that Leo had lung adenocarcinoma, which is among the most common types of lung cancer. The pope has slowly resumed his public duties, including a weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. He met with a group of about 30 Chicago clergy, religious leaders and lay people on Wednesday.

The papal leader, 71, was born in Chicago and grew up in south suburban Dolton. He has seen many Chicagoans visit the Vatican since he became pope, including Gov. JB Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis-Gates, suburban mayors and even a former member of his favorite baseball team: Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski.