Pope Leo Mails His Midterm Ballot Home to Illinois, Where He Voted in Three Republican Primaries

The most famous Chicagoan alive just voted in the midterms. By mail. From Vatican City.

The Holy See Press Office confirmed Friday that Pope Leo XIV, an American citizen, "has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago." The Vatican's statement says he "has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so," that he also voted in Peru when he lived there, and that he believes in "the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes."

That makes Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, the first pope in history to cast a ballot in a U.S. election. And his voting record has a twist most coverage gave one line: he has taken a Republican primary ballot three times.

What the records show

The Chicago Sun-Times broke the story Thursday. "Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election," Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff in the Will County clerk's office, told the paper. He is registered at an address in New Lenox, a suburb southwest of Chicago, and he asked for the ballot Oct. 3. It went out from the clerk's office in Joliet to the Vatican.

County records cited by the Sun-Times show he voted in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Republican primaries and in the 2008 and 2010 Democratic primaries. He also voted in general elections, including 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2024. He skipped Illinois' primary this March.

Some context on why that matters. Illinois has no party registration. At each primary, a voter walks in and asks for a Democratic or Republican ballot, and that choice is public record. It is not a party card, and it says nothing about which names he picked. But the 2016 Republican primary he chose to vote in was the one Donald Trump won in Illinois. Make of that what you like. The secret ballot means nobody, including us, knows how he marked it.

Pritzker grabs the pope for a pitch

Gov. JB Pritzker, who is on this very ballot seeking reelection, wasted no time turning the pope into an ad for mail voting.

Leo's ballot also covers the open U.S. Senate seat Dick Durbin is leaving, plus Will County judicial and county races, the Sun-Times reported. The Holy See did not say how he voted, and it should not.

How a pope votes by mail

There is nothing special about it, and that is the point. "There is no such thing as an absentee ballot in Illinois law anymore. So anyone can vote by mail if they so choose," Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich told the Sun-Times. Americans living abroad also vote under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. The pope's envelope rides in the same lane as a Marine's ballot from Okinawa.

One wrinkle: the Vatican says he submitted the ballot "in Chicago," while his registration and the clerk who mailed it are in Will County. On Thursday the clerk's office told NBC News it had not yet received his completed ballot.

The two-week window

Here is where Republicans have a real fight, and the pope's ballot shows why. Illinois counts a mailed ballot as long as it is postmarked by Election Day and arrives within 14 days. This year that deadline is Nov. 17. Think of a mail-in rebate that still pays out two weeks after the deadline as long as the stamp is dated in time.

Rep. Mike Bost, an Illinois Republican, sued over that rule. In January the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that he has standing to bring the case and sent it back down. Then in June, in a Mississippi case, the Court ruled 5-4 that federal Election Day laws do not require ballots to arrive by Election Day. Justice Samuel Alito dissented, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined most of his dissent.

So for Nov. 3, Illinois' two-week window stands. The pope's ballot, like every overseas ballot, counts if it gets to Joliet by Nov. 17.

Why it matters

A pope voting is new. A Chicago kid who grew up to lead 1.4 billion Catholics still mailing his ballot back home to New Lenox is about as American as it gets. Just don't let anyone in Springfield claim him for their side. The record shows a man who has asked for a Republican ballot more often than a Democratic one.