Pope Leo XIV Votes in US Midterm Elections, Ballot Sent by Post

Pope Leo XIV, the first pope in the Catholic Church to have been born in the United States, has cast his vote in the US midterm elections. The Vatican said Pope Leo sent his ballot by post in Chicago.

AFP reported on Friday (30 October 2026) that this is the first known instance of a pope voting in a political election.

The leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, who has clashed with US President Donald Trump, believes in the “right and duty of citizens to participate in the democratic process”, the Vatican said in a statement.

The pope, who was born in Chicago, “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen whenever he has been eligible to do so”, the Vatican said.

“The Press Office of the Holy See confirms that, in keeping with a long-standing practice of civic participation, he has sent his ballot by post in Chicago,” the statement added.

Tensions between President Trump and Pope Leo earlier this year drew worldwide attention.

Leo and Trump repeatedly clashed after the pope criticised the US immigration crackdown and the war against Iran. Trump even called the pope weak on crime and poor on foreign policy. The pope, for his part, said he was not afraid of Trump.

The crucial US midterm elections are scheduled to take place on 3 November.

Robert Francis Prevost, the name Pope Leo used before becoming pope, spent nearly two decades as a missionary and later as a bishop in Peru. He holds both US and Peruvian citizenship.

“The Holy Father also confirms that during his years living in Peru, he exercised his right to vote whenever he was eligible to do so,” the Vatican said.