The newly elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, not only did voting ballots in the Papal Conclave, but also in the US elections.
THE Pope born in Chicago – Formerly the Cardinal Robert F. Prevost – is registered to vote in the suburbs of Chicago in New Lenox, Illinois, and has a mixed history of voting participation in the primaries for both parties, according to the voting files shared with CBS News and the data from Illinois State Board of Elections.
There is no party recording in Illinois, but to vote in a primary, you must choose the ballot of a party on which to vote. Prevost voted in primaries more republican than democrats, and the last main election in which he voted was the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
He voted for the last time in the general elections of 2024, although he did not know for which party he voted.
This is in accordance with files, shared with CBS News by the GOP consultant, Jared Small, prevost files from “Data L2”, a paid service used by political campaigns that have access to individual voter files provided by each state. CBS News also contacted the Will County County Bureau for copies of this data.
He voted in republican primaries in 2012, 2014 and 2016, including presidential primaries in 2012 and 2016.
L2’s data files show that he last voted in a democratic primary in 2010 for the last time. He also voted in the party’s presidential primary in 2008.
He voted in at least nine general elections, notably in five presidential electoral cycles: 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2024. There is no voting file during the 2016 or 2020 general elections.
The files show that he also voted in a “consolidated general election” in April 2001, when the local offices of Illinois were on the ballot.
The Pope now has also been active on social networks For years, and has republished statements on politics.
In February, he shared an article on X which criticized the republican vice-president JD Vance, and he has already shared a Ed De Washington Post 2015 Written by American cardinal Timothy Dolan entitled “Why the anti-immigrant rhetoric of Donald Trump is so problematic.” He also shared stories criticizing abortion.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance praise Pope Leo XIV Thursday, and Trump told journalists that it was “such an honor for our country” to have an American pope.
The new pope had studied at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago and had been ordained a priest in 1982. He had held several positions for the Augustinian province of Chicago. He is also a fan of the professional baseball team of Chicago White Sox, according to a WGN interview With his brother John Prevost.
contributed to this report.