(OSV News) The most interesting mail-in vote that Will County, Illinois, receives this year will come from Vatican City.

Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV has submitted his mail-in ballot for the 2026 midterm elections, the Vatican confirmed.

“Pope Leo XIV has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so,” according to an Oct. 30 statement from the Holy See Press Office. “In keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement following the Vatican’s announcement.

“In voting, our Holy Father sets the example that encourages each citizen to exercise their civic responsibility,” the statement read. “The U.S. bishops have emphasized that is not ‘who’ one is voting for, but rather on encouraging Catholics to inform their conscience as they prepare to vote and to uphold human dignity and the common good in doing so.”

The 71-year-old (born Robert Francis Prevost on Sept. 14, 1955) was born in Chicago, remains a U.S. citizen (as well as a citizen of Peru), and is still a registered voter in the Prairie State at a New Lenox, Illinois, address — the same town where his elder brother John lives.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Oct. 29 that the pope requested the ballot on Oct. 3 through the Will County clerk’s office. Kim Fladhammer, chief of staff for the clerk’s office, confirmed to the paper that “Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election.”

As for how he’ll vote, that’s anyone’s guess. The pontiff participated in the Democratic primaries in 2008 and 2010, then switched to the Republican primaries in 2012, 2014, and 2016.

He has only voted in general elections since then (including 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2024; he did not vote in the state’s March primary this year), so it is not known how he is leaning these days. Illinois voters do not register by party and can choose parties for their primary ballot; any registered voter can cast a ballot by mail.

We do know he hasn’t been at all shy about criticizing President Donald Trump on issues like the war in Iran, immigration, and Venezuela. Pope Leo will have the chance to weigh in on the Illinois Senate race (to replace Sen. Dick Durbin), the governor’s race (Gov. JB Pritzker’s reelection bid), and contests local to Will County, along with several county and judicial posts.

In a message to participants at an April plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Pope Leo highlighted authentic democracy, which “recognizes the dignity of every person and calls each citizen to participate responsibly in the pursuit of the common good.”

He cited St. John Paul II, who “affirmed that the Church values democracy because it ensures participation in political choices.” Quoting from St. John Paul’s 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus, he added that democracy also offers people “the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate.”

Pope Leo said that “democracy remains healthy, however, only when rooted in the moral law and a true vision of the human person.” The Holy See noted that the pope “expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes.”