How to vote when you’re an astronaut? NASA planned this in 1997 and, in 2024, it will concern two people who were not supposed to be in space at the time of the American presidential election.
During an election, citizens have the right — even the duty — to go and vote. But imagine: you are in space and you cannot be on Earth during the election. This is the situation affecting American astronauts aboard the ISS. But in a few weeks, Americans will have to choose between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
On board the International Space Station, it is not possible to get off, vote, and then go back up. So there is a specific procedure, put in place 27 years ago by NASA. Except that this year, there is a bit of a twist.
Stranded astronauts’ civil rights are saved
Normally, the process starts before they go into space. Since astronauts live in Houston most of the time, since that’s where they train, they have to register to vote with the State of Texas, at the county clerk’s office in question. This first step allows them to request that an electronic ballot be sent.
During the election, the state of Texas sends a secure ballot—a sort of PDF with checkboxes—via NASA’s communications channels. This ballot is uploaded to the ISS’s internal computer system. When this ballot is returned, the data is transmitted via a NASA satellite to a ground antenna called the White Sands Ground Terminal. Then the data, still secured, transits to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center before finally arriving at the county clerk’s office in Houston, Texas.
This year, most of the American astronauts aboard the ISS will return to Earth before the election. But there are two who will still be in orbit: Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. This was not planned. The situation is unprecedented, but has not had much impact on their future access to the vote. The two astronauts gave a press conference on this subject on September 13.
They were then able to confirm that they would be able to vote. Indeed, the voter registration procedure, which allows them to receive an electronic ballot, was finally able to take place directly from the station. I sent my ballot request today “, Wilmore confirmed. It is a very important role that we play as citizens in participating in these elections, and NASA makes it very easy for us to do so. “They will therefore be able to vote by electronic ballot, on board the space station, as is the usual procedure.
Look at the world from space
