Pope Leo XIV has voted fairly regularly during the general elections in the past two decades, and has chosen to participate in the republican and democratic primary elections over the years, according to the State Archives and Local of Illinois.
The new pontiff, from Chicago, voted in at least 10 general elections since 2000, according to files, more recently in November, when he voted a ballot absent during the presidential election. During the primary elections of Illinois, voters can choose the ballot of a party in the polls, and Pope Leo varied in his selection, by choosing democratic ballots years ago and Republicans more recently.
The county of Will, in the suburbs of Chicago, published records on Thursday showing that the Pope had voted there in several elections since 2012, including three republican primaries between 2012 and 2016.
The files referred to Friday at the Illinois Elections Office State Board in Springfield showed that Pope Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost, voted regularly in the County of Cook between 2000 and 2010. During this time, he voted in two primaries, selecting the democratic ballots in 2008 and 2010.
In Illinois, where democrats dominate during the elections on the state level, voters do not register as members of a political party. American citizens living outside the country remain eligible to vote.
Pope Leo was born in Chicago and grew up in Dolton, Illinois, in a family deeply involved in his local parish. Although his career has included long stays in Peru and Rome, he returned to Illinois several times in adulthood, including for higher education and for publications with the Augustinian midwest.
Susan C. Beachy And Jonah Smith Contributed reports.
