How Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Plan to Vote in US Polls From Space

Washington: NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are preparing to vote from space in upcoming November U.S. elections.  

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who have been stationed at International Space Station (ISS) since June of this year participated in a live press conference from space on September 13

Wilmore stated while talking to press, "I sent down my request for a ballot today, and y should get it to us in a couple of weeks."

He stated furr, "It’s a very important role that we all play as citizens to be included in those elections, and NASA makes it very easy for us to do that. We’re excited for that opportunity." Williams echoed this, stating, "It’s a very important duty, and I’m looking forward to voting from space."

In 2020, astronaut Kate Rubins also voted from space while orbiting Earth at 17,500 miles per hour aboard International Space Station, about 200 miles above planet.

But how does voting from space actually work?

Astronauts cast ir votes through a special electronic absentee ballot. This process began in 1997 when Texas passed Rule 81.35 in its state legislature. law allowed astronauts, who usually live in Houston near NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC), to vote from space if y are eligible as Texas voters and will be on a spaceflight during voting period of elections at time. 

Before ir mission, astronauts identify elections y will be in space for.  Closer to Election Day, an encrypted electronic ballot is sent from JSC’s Mission Control to astronaut. astronaut n accesses ballot using unique credentials which are send to m via email and casts ir vote, and sends completed ballot back to Earth, where it is received by County Clerk’s office.

first astronaut to vote from space was David Wolf, who cast his ballot from Russian Space Station Mir in 1997. Today, ballots are sent to International Space Station, where astronauts typically spend around six months. process mirrors absentee voting on Earth, with exception that astronauts list ir dress as 'low-Earth orbit.'