Pope Leo XIV, a native of Chicago, has consistently participated in general and primary elections in Illinois over the past two decades, voting both in Republican and Democratic primaries. Since 2000, he has voted in at least 10 general elections, including casting an absentee ballot in November’s presidential election. In Illinois, voters can choose any party’s ballot during primary elections, and the Pope has exercised variation in his choices, selecting Democratic ballots in earlier years and Republican ones more recently.
Will County, a suburb of Chicago, has released records confirming the Pope’s engagement in multiple elections there since 2012, including three Republican primaries between 2012 and 2016. The Illinois State Board of Elections office in Springfield also revealed that Pope Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, voted regularly in Cook County between 2000 and 2010. During this period, he participated in two primaries, choosing Democratic ballots in 2008 and 2010.
In Illinois, where Democrats dominate statewide elections, voting does not require registration with a political party, and citizens residing outside the country remain eligible to vote. Pope Leo was raised in Dolton, Illinois, in a family actively involved in their local parish. Though he pursued lengthy periods of work in Peru and Rome, he has returned to Illinois for graduate school and assignments with the Midwest Augustinians.
This information on Pope Leo’s voting history is completeness by contributions from Susan C. Beachy and Jonah Smith.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/world/europe/pope-leo-voting-record-illinois.html
