Sunita Williams, along with crewmate Butch Wilmore, announced their plans to vote in the upcoming US presidential election from the International Space Station (ISS). During a press conference via satellite phone, they confirmed that their ballot requests had been submitted.
“Voting is an important responsibility as citizens, and we are looking forward to voting from space,” said Williams, an astronaut of Indian descent. Since 1997, US astronauts on the ISS have used secure, password-protected PDF files to cast their votes electronically.
Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS on June 7 and were initially scheduled to return to Earth on June 13. However, their return was delayed due to issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. They are now set to return aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft in February.
Williams reflected on the delay, “We watched as the Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth without us. Neither NASA nor Boeing’s decision disappointed us, as 90% of our training is about handling unexpected situations.”
Back Story
The history of voting from space dates back to 1997 when NASA facilitated secure electronic voting for astronauts. Since then, many astronauts, including David Wolf, who cast his vote from the Mir space station in 1997, have taken part in elections from space.
In 2004, Leroy Chiao became the first American to vote for a US president from space. Kathleen Rubins followed, casting her vote from the ISS in both 2016 and 2020. The process involves a secure electronic ballot transmitted by Johnson Space Center, ensuring US citizens on space missions can participate in democratic elections.
While most astronauts are registered to vote in Texas, others like Andrew R. Morgan, registered in Pennsylvania, have worked with NASA to ensure their votes count, regardless of where they are stationed.
Cosmonauts, too, have a history of voting from space. The first recorded instance was in 1971 when the crew of Soyuz 11 voted in the election for the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
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