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6 outlets · first filed 2 days ago

Pope Leo XIV becomes first pope to vote in U.S. election

Pope Leo XIV voted in the 2026 Illinois midterm elections using a mail-in ballot, the Vatican confirmed Friday, becoming the first sitting pope known to vote in an American election. Why it matters: The pontiff, an American citizen, may be the first to vote in any secular democratic election.

Associated Press

What the coverage shows

Both outlets frame the story as Pope Leo taking steps to vote in the US midterms, with NBC News saying he requested an absentee ballot in Illinois and The Independent saying he secured a mail-in ballot. NBC is alone in noting that it is not clear whether he has mailed it yet. The Independent adds a broader political frame, linking the report to earlier sparring with Donald Trump, which NBC does not mention.

Written by Crossfiled from the 7 headlines and extracts below, not from the articles themselves. It describes how the outlets framed this, not what happened. Open any headline for a summary of that article.

New York Times60 MinutesAssociated PressCBS NewsAxiosNBC News

How it broke

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