When Pope Leo XIV voted in the US mid-term election, it raised a question worth asking in India. He holds American and Peruvian citizenship and is head of Vatican City State. In 2025, Moldova’s President Maia Sandu voted in Romania’s presidential election, using her Romanian citizenship. Neither example, by itself, points to a breach of international law. A country’s laws determine whether its citizens abroad may vote. Many countries allow dual or multiple citizenship. India does not. Under Indian law, acquiring another country’s citizenship ends Indian citizenship. An Indian passport is a travel document, not conclusive proof of citizenship. Whether this approach still makes sense in an increasingly connected world deserves public debate.
