US Elections 2020: How do Astronauts vote from the Space Station?

The American citizens are waiting for the US Elections 2020 results with polls now closed across the country. While millions of Americans have cast their votes by visiting their respective voting booths, a NASA astronaut in space was also able to cast her vote directly from the Space Station.

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NASA has recently revealed that Kate Rubins successfully cast her vote for the US Presidential Election from the International Space Station. However, this wasn't the first time that she cast her vote after entering the low-Earth orbit. Kate had cast her first vote from the ISS voting booth during the 2016 election. This means that this was the second time that she was able to cast her vote from the Space Station. Interestingly, astronauts have been able to vote from space since 1997 after the passing of a State law in Texas which legally allowed voting from the Space Station. David Wolf was the very first NASA astronaut who had cast their vote from the Earth's orbit. Here's a look at how voting from space works.

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How do astronauts vote from Space?

For astronauts who intend to vote from the Space Station, they are required to fill out the Federal Postcard Application. After it is approved by the authorities, a test ballot is released to the Space Center to test cast the vote. If everything goes well, the county clerk sends out an e-mail to the respective astronaut which allows them to access the ballot.

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The astronaut is required to fill out an electronic absentee ballot from the Space Station, which goes through a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite and reaches the ground antenna which is located at the White Sands Complex in New Mexico.

From this location, the Space Agency sends the electronic absentee to the Mission Control Center. It is further transferred to the county clerk. The electronic absentee ballot is in an encrypted form and it is accessible only by the voter and the county clerk member. For astronauts voting as Texas residents, they are required to cast their vote by 7 PM local time on the day of election.

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Image credits: NASA