# Should Pope Leo XIV have voted in this week's elections? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328 "2026-11-01T23:59:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/21 "2026-11-02T11:50:58Z")
So have any prominent Republicans called it voter fraud, yet? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/22 "2026-11-02T13:06:22Z")
I’ve got mixed feelings about a head of a foreign state voting in a US election. But we’re talking about one guy, so it’s not something I can be bothered to care about beyond it being a curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/23 "2026-11-02T13:13:53Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Presumably he’s a permanent resident of the Vatican City. I think that makes him no longer an eligible voter > > If you can point to a US law that says that, then … okay, yeah, sure. > > However, I spent most of my adult life as a resident of Indonesia, Egypt, Federated States of Micronesia, and Mozambique. I always had whatever residency permit was needed to live and work in those countries. > > At no time did I ever relinquish my right to vote as an American citizen, and it offends me to think that anyone would ever question that. (Pollyanna-ish as it might sound, I was actually involved in work in those countries to promote American values - as we saw it in those days - of democracy, equal opportunity, and human rights.) No, I’m not aware of any laws against American citizens living overseas voting in domestic elections. I assume when you were living overseas it was temporary, but taking a lifetime appointment as a head of state seems pretty permanent. I guess I assumed that once you no longer plan to ever return to the US that you’d have no interest in domestic elections. (Though since Robert Prevost (i.e., the Pope) retained his American citizenship, presumably he still files a tax return with the IRS.) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/24 "2026-11-02T13:33:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I guess I assumed that once you no longer plan to ever return to the US that you’d have no interest in domestic elections. Why? If somebody hasn’t renounced their original citizenship then they should be presumed still to have an interest in the governance of their birth nation, even if their career or personal life prevents them from ever living there again. The Duchess of Susaex is still a US citizen, for instance, and for all I know may still vote absentee. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/25 "2026-11-02T13:49:06Z")
I read somewhere he renounced his citizenship twice. Guess he recanted the renouncement once. Currently not a US citizen, since when I dk. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/26 "2026-11-02T14:17:19Z")
No. He was granted honorary Peruvian nationality in 2015; from that point on he has been a dual citizen of the US and Peru. And, as pope, he has a diplomatic Vatican passport - but as far as is known he never renounced US citizenship when becoming pope. The US supreme court in a 1980 decision ruled that Americans can’t be stripped of their citizenship unless they intentionally renounce it. Thus, not having done the paperwork to renounce US citizenship, Pope Leo XIV is still a US citizen. Looking at his predecessors, Pope Francis was always an Argentinian citizen; Benedict XVI was always a German citizen, and John Paul II was always a Polish citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/27 "2026-11-02T14:29:22Z")
@chela’s post was in reply to one about Benjamin Netanyahu, not the Pope. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/28 "2026-11-02T14:45:41Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I read somewhere he renounced his citizenship twice. Guess he recanted the renouncement once. Currently not a US citizen, since when I dk. Nobody seems to know the status of Netanyahu’s U.S. citizenship. The best guess is that he gave it up in 1982 when he joined the diplomatic corps, as per Foreign Ministry procedure, but it’s never really been confirmed. Either way, he hasn’t registered to vote - that’s a matter of public record. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/29 "2026-11-02T14:58:31Z")
As a(nother) neutral foreigner, I was surprised to hear of the Pope’s intention to vote. Whilst he retains the right, I think I would expect him to recuse himself, given he’s now the head of state of a foreign realm. But then I have ‘views’ about voting rights. For instance, I would happily strip voting rights from British citizens who haven’t resided in the UK for many years. It pissed me off no end that Brexit supporters who live in Spain and have no expectation of returning got to screw things up for the rest of us. If you’re not affected by political decisions, I don’t think you should have a hand in making them. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/30 "2026-11-02T15:10:02Z")
If the Pope remains a US citizen, he’s on the hook for Federal and (I think) Illinois taxes. To me, that means he’s allowed to vote regardless of his “job”. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/31 "2026-11-02T15:10:53Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I really hope that one wasn’t a singing telegram… But he sings like an angel! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/32 "2026-11-02T15:17:11Z")
When asked about the Notre Dame - Villanova football game, he said: > “So the pope doesn’t take sides. Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now.” So, the Pope may take no position on elections but Robert Prevost is welcome to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/33 "2026-11-02T15:22:01Z")
FYI, Robert Prevost is a Villanova graduate, so he might have a team he favored. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/34 "2026-11-02T15:30:46Z")
I checked the laws and, since the Vatican is recognized as a separate country, and since we acknowledge dual citizenship with the Vatican, he had every legal right to vote. Furthermore, as the leader of a large part of the Christian world, he took a moral stand by voting, and I’m glad that he did. If people claim to be Christian, then they know that their leader died for what he believed in. If that’s the case, the least they can do is vote for the things that most closely match those things. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/35 "2026-11-02T17:15:01Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > If the Pope remains a US citizen, he’s on the hook for Federal and (I think) Illinois taxes. To me, that means he’s allowed to vote regardless of his “job”. This. As long as I have to pay taxes based on citizenship, then I should be able to vote as a citizen. The U.S. is one of very few countries with citizen-based taxation. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/36 "2026-11-02T18:05:57Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > For instance, I would happily strip voting rights from British citizens who haven’t resided in the UK for many years. Not that I have ever voted in a UK election, but I am a full British Citizen (with right of abode) despite not actualy living in the UK. What is your reason why can’t I vote? Am I a lesser British Citizen because I don’t live in Lower-Puddlington-on-Thames, but rather, in one of the former colonies? The British chose us colonials (or, rather, our ancestors) to go and enrich the Crown by relentlessly stealing from the people Their Majesties chose to oppress. And now, having done so, you don’t want us back? Thanks, mate. As for the pontiff, I hope he voted with his conscience. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/37 "2026-11-02T18:30:07Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > If the Pope remains a US citizen, he’s on the hook for Federal and (I think) Illinois taxes. Probably not Illinois taxes, since residency, rather than citizenship, is generally the basis for paying state taxes. Not that Illinois wouldn’t necessarily come after him. In years past, we had big fights with both Massachusetts and Virginia over state taxes, because we had previously been resident and the only proof they would accept that we were no longer residing there was proof that we were paying state taxes in a different state. (Impossible to do, since we left Virginia to live in the FSM and Massachusetts to live in Indonesia). Massachusetts tried to fine us $30k as a matter of fact, which was pretty scary. We were not the only American expats with stories like that. One can only hope things are more sensible now. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/38 "2026-11-02T18:41:11Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Three British kings (George I, II, and III) were head of state in Great Britain and also Prince-Electors of Hanover in the HRE. Interesting. The Georges were simultaneously King and head of the Electorate of Hanover in the HRE. It was the latter position that allowed him to vote as a Prince-Elector, though. I’m not sure what that means in the context of this thread. If the question is whether any head of state ever voted in another country’s elections, I’d say that technically the Georges mean the answer is yes. OTOH, the spirit of the question would seem to preclude the historic accident that one person was head of two states, as well as the reality that the HRE had no public voting by eligible citizens in the modern sense of the term. I’m partial to following the spirit of the question, but others here may want to vote the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/39 "2026-11-02T20:22:03Z")
Not till they find out for sure who he voted for. A thumb drive with a sticky note has been FedEx’d to Vatican City. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328/40 "2026-11-02T20:28:04Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > But then I have ‘views’ about voting rights. Yeah, me too. I’m a US citizen residing abroad, and I refuse to vote in American elections as a matter of principle. (For the record: downtown NYC, New York. My vote wouldn’t have much of an impact either way). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-pope-leo-xiv-have-voted-in-this-weeks-elections/1034328.md?page=3)