By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Pope Leo, born Robert Prevost, voted by mail in Will County in the 2026 midterm election under his given name, Vatican handlers said.
Prevost is registered to vote at an address in New Lenox, his hometown. Vatican handlers said he “has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen and has done so whenever he was eligible,” according to the broadcast report.
Voting records reviewed by radio host Amy Jacobson show Prevost has requested ballots in five primary elections since 2000, asking for Democratic ballots twice and Republican ballots three times. He is registered as a voter under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, a federal law that allows Americans living abroad, including clergy stationed overseas, to vote using their last U.S. address.
A caller identified as Tom, from Joliet, questioned the residency rules during the broadcast. “Do you not have to reside in the state that you vote in or the district? And for how long?” he asked. The law generally allows registration at a voter’s last U.S. domicile regardless of how long they have lived abroad.
A Newsmax correspondent stationed at the Vatican reported that Prevost has publicly opposed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s assisted suicide legislation, according to the broadcast. No additional detail on that statement was available in the source material.
Prevost was elected pope earlier this year and took the name Leo. He grew up in the New Lenox area before his religious career took him abroad, and his voter registration remained tied to his birth name through Tuesday’s midterm election cycle.
The mail ballot marks the first instance reported on air of a sitting pope voting in a U.S. election. Illinois’ midterm election, including the Will County races on Prevost’s ballot, is scheduled for Tuesday.
The Will County clerk’s office did not provide additional comment on the ballot as of Friday.
Jacobson said the voting history was drawn from a review of public records covering primary elections dating back to 2000, the year Prevost would have been eligible to vote as an adult U.S. citizen living part of that time abroad in Peru, where he served in ministry before his election as pope.
