Millions of Americans headed to the polls for the 2026 US midterm elections but three NASA astronauts exercised their democratic rights from an unusual location: more than 400 kilometres above Earth.
Astronauts Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney in the ISS voted in the November 3 elections electronically from space.
Menon posted a video on social media site X showing how voting goes aboard the orbiting lab. In the video, he used computer in his small sleeping compartment to cast his ballot. The facilities at the space station were his polling booth for the election.
“Yes, you can even vote from space!” Menon wrote in his post. He also said all three American crew members aboard the station had the chance to vote and transmit their ballots successfully.
Menon voted in Harris County, Texas where NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Mission Control are located. Watkins and Delaney also voted electronically.
How can astronauts vote while in space
Voting from orbit sounds complicated but NASA has a process that astronauts can use to vote while doing missions away from Earth.
The process begins before an astronaut takes off into space. They fill out a Federal Post Card Application which allows eligible American citizens living away from their registered voting places to request an absentee ballot.
Once election officials make the electronic ballot available, astronauts can use a computer on ISS to access it. When they’re done with the ballot they send it securely through NASA’s communications network.
The ballot then goes through the agency’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System before arriving at a ground antenna at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. From there it is sent to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston where it is delivered to the county election office.
Encryption and restricted access are used to keep the astronaut’s vote confidential. Crew members can vote in elections without returning to Earth.
Yes, you can even vote from space! All three US crew members had the privilege of voting from space station. We filled out an electronic ballot and sent it securely to the election officials. https://t.co/hJCExQ2nKr
— Anil Menon (@astro_anil) November 3, 2026
NASA’s space voting tradition goes back decades
Voting from space isn’t new to the American space agency. In 1997 Texas passed legislation that astronauts could vote while on missions in space.
NASA astronaut David Wolf became the first American to vote from space in 1997 while living aboard Russia’s Mir space station.
Since then, the procedure has allowed eligible astronauts to remain engaged in democracy even though they spend extended periods away from their home country.
The 2026 midterms are especially important for American politics because voters will choose representatives for all 435 seats in the US House of Representatives as well as several Senate seats, governorships and other positions.
Voters in the US took part in polling arrangements that were conventional; Menon, Watkins and Delaney showed how technology allows you to exercise democratic rights even outside the atmosphere.
Their participation shows how distance and difficult working conditions don’t have to stop eligible citizens from voting.
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