What happened

Pope Leo XIV has submitted a mail-in ballot in Illinois for the midterm elections, becoming the first pope ever to vote in a US election. The Holy See Press Office confirmed the ballot and said the pope believes citizens have both a right and a duty to take part in democratic processes.

The Chicago-born pontiff is the first US citizen to hold the Vatican's highest seat, after his selection in May 2025. The press office said he has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen whenever he was eligible to do so, including during his years in Peru.

According to NBC News, the pope requested his mail-in ballot from the Will County Clerk's Office on October 3. His ballot joins [a surge of early voting across the country](/article/more-than-43-million-ballots-cast-midterm-early-voting-surge), with tens of millions of ballots already cast before Election Day.

Why it matters

The midterms on November 3 will decide which party controls Congress and will shape the final years of Donald Trump's presidency. Early voting has already begun in most states, so the pope's ballot is part of a contest that is well under way, not a distant event.

Polls suggest Democrats are the favorite to gain control of the House of Representatives and are poised to win seats in Republican-leaning areas that voted heavily for Trump in 2024. Democrats also appear to have a chance to win additional seats in the Senate. [What is at stake in the midterms, and how control of Congress is decided](/article/us-midterm-elections-2026-explained), is now the central question of the final days of the campaign.

The vote also lands in the middle of a public disagreement between the pope and the president. Leo has clashed with the Trump administration over issues including immigration enforcement, and he called for peace after US-Israeli strikes on Iran in April. Trump responded at the time by saying, "I don't think he's doing a very good job," and adding, "I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo." The pope answered that the mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel and to preach peace.

What it means for the US

For American readers, the story is striking because the ballot itself is ordinary and the voter is not. A US-born pope voting from Illinois as an American citizen puts a familiar civic act in an unfamiliar setting, and it comes at a moment when control of Congress is on the line.

It also shows how far the pope's disagreements with Washington have traveled. His criticism of immigration enforcement and his call for peace after the Iran strikes are already part of the US debate, and his decision to vote in this election keeps that connection visible in the final days before November 3. [Recent polling points to a Democratic edge, with warning signs for both parties](/article/new-poll-democrats-hold-midterm-edge-warning-signs), so the outcome in the House and Senate remains the prize both sides are chasing.

What happens next

Voting takes place nationwide on November 3. In the final days before then, Republican and Democratic officials are traveling across the country to boost their parties' chances, and Trump has held rallies in states where Republican victories are usually all but guaranteed. The results will settle which party controls the House and the Senate for the rest of Trump's term.