NASA Astronauts Including Sunita Williams To Vote From Space in US Elections

NASA Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore will vote from space in the upcoming US presidential elections in November. Their stay in the International Space Station has got extended at least till February 2025.

The two astronauts are in the ISS since June 2024.

Speaking to the media from the ISS, 250 miles above earth, on Friday, Williams and Wilmore said they have requested for a ballot, terming voting as an “important role” played by citizens.

“I sent down my request for a ballot today, as a matter of fact, and they should get it to us in a couple of weeks,” Wilmore said. “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.”

The pair had launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight, arriving at the space station on June 6.

A decision was made to return Starliner to Earth without its crew and the spacecraft successfully returned on September 6 after more than three months in space. It made a safe landing at White Sands Space Harbour in New Mexico.

Astronauts have been voting from space since 1997, when the Texas legislature passed a bill allowing NASA employees to vote from space, the New York Post reported.

Williams and Wilmore are living on the ISS with seven other astronauts, New York Times reported.