Pope Leo XIV has voted in US midterm elections, Vatican says

Published on 30 October 2026 - 14:59 GMT+1 Pope Leo XIV has submitted a mail-in ballot for the US' midterm elections, the Vatican announced on Friday, marking the first known time a pontiff has voted in a political election. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Vatican Press Office said in a statement that Chicago-born Leo had "exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen." "The Holy Father has also confirmed that, during his years of residence in Peru he exercised his right to vote whenever he was eligible to do so," the statement continued. Leo spent years working as a missionary and later bishop in Peru and has Peruvian citizenship. "The Holy Father expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes," it added. The US midterm elections, scheduled for 3 November, will determine the make-up of Congress for President Donald Trump's final two years in office. Since his return to the White House in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly clashed with Leo, accusing him of being "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy." "He wasn’t on any list to be pope, and was only put there by the church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account in April. For his part, Leo has been critical of the US' harsh stance on immigration and Trump's threats to Iran. The 71-year-old pontiff would have been able to vote in both the race for the Illinois Senate and in the contest for governor of the state, where incumbent Democrat JB Pritzker is up against Republican Darren Bailey and independent Collin Corbett.