What to know about voting by mail in Illinois like Pope Leo did. Is it legal and how do you do it?

Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV, a registered voter in Illinois, has voted by mail ahead of midterm elections on Nov. 3, the Sun-Times reported. The Vatican on Friday confirmed he has submitted his mail ballot in Illinois. The Vatican also confirmed that the pope “exercised his right to vote whenever he was eligible to do so,” including when he lived in Peru.

Is voting by mail legal? How does it work?

Yes, it’s legal.

Any Illinois registered voter can vote by mail, said the Illinois State Board of Elections. And U.S. citizens who are overseas have the right to vote by mail with a law called UOCAVA, The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. The law is mostly for the military, but it’s also for U.S. citizens who are overseas.

Until 2010, Illinois voters had to have an excuse to get what was then called an “absentee ballot.”

Now, “any Illinois registered voter can vote by mail,” said Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Is it too late to vote by mail in Illinois’ midterm election?

Yes, it’s too late. Applications to vote by mail must be submitted no less than five days before the election, said the Illinois State Board of Elections. This year, the Illinois election authority had to receive applications by Oct. 29. Applications opened on Aug. 5.

Pope Leo, registered as Robert Francis Prevost in New Lenox, made his request on Oct. 3, the Will County clerk’s office said.

Has President Donald Trump tried to restrict voting by mail?

Yes. But in Illinois, it’s “business as usual,” for voting by mail, Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon said in August.

Nothing has changed with the state’s mail ballot plan, even though legal challenges abound, the Illinois State Board of Elections said in August.

Through an executive order, legal challenges and efforts in Congress, Trump has tried to cast doubt and restrict mail ballots, which he has falsely blamed for his 2020 loss.

Despite his fight against mail-in voting Trump voted by mail again in Florida’s Republican primary. He also voted by mail in a special election in Palm Beach County earlier this year.

In September, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Trump’s attempt to use the U.S. Postal Service to restrict mail voting, said the Voting Rights Lab.

The decision means that all 50 states can continue to use their existing processes for mail voting, according to the ACLU.