Sunita Williams to exercise franchise in US elections: How astronauts vote from space

Many of us may not exercise our democratic right to vote due to sheer lethargy or indifference even if the voting booth is just a km away, but Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, the US astronauts stranded on the International Space Station 402 kms away from earth are planning to cast their ballots in the US presidential elections this November.

The duo’s home has been the ISS since June this year since the Boeing Starliner that took them there was unable to bring them back to planet earth. Their voyage that was supposed to last for only 8 days may now extend to about 8 months.

Since they will not be able to cast their vote in person, both of them have sent down their requests to vote from space.

‘Pretty cool’

“I sent down my request for a ballot today, and they should get it to us in a couple of weeks,” Butch Wilmore told reporters during a press conference on Friday (September 13). “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,” he said.

Sunita Williams was equally enthusiastic, “It’s a very important duty that we have as citizens and looking forward to being able to vote from space, which is pretty cool.”

How does it work?

Election officials in the US work with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to make it happen.

NASA’s Johnson Space Station is located in Harris County, Texas. Election officials from the county said they coordinate with NASA to send astronauts a PDF with clickable boxes to make their voting choice. It is password protected to ensure that it is a secret ballot.

An election official told NBC News that a test ballot with a unique password is always sent first. Once the astronauts vote on their live ballot, it is returned to earth, printed, and processed with other ballots.

Not the first time

Not at all. It’s been happening for the past 27 years. US astronauts have been voting from space since 1997, after the Texas legislature passed a law allowing NASA employees to vote from space.

The first American to vote from space was David Wolf when he was aboard the Mir Space station in 1997. The most recent one was Kate Rubins who voted from the ISS in the 2020 elections.

When will they be back?

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will return to earth on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in February 2025.

The Boeing Starliner returned to earth without its crew last week. The return flight took six hours, with the Starliner parachuting and landing in the New Mexico desert.