Three American NASA astronauts have cast their ballots from the International Space Station (ISS), more than 400 kilometers above Earth, participating in the midterm elections in the United States. Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, filled out their ballots electronically and sent them via a secure communications network to the relevant election authorities.
Anil Menon announced the news in a post on Platform X, explaining how the three astronauts managed to participate in the election process, despite the fact that they are in orbit around the planet.
"Yes. You can vote from space!" the astronaut wrote. "All three American crew members had the privilege of voting from the Space Station. We filled out an electronic ballot and sent it securely to the appropriate election officials," he added.
Yes, you can even vote from space! All three US crew members had the privilege of voting from the 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
Menon described the process in a short video, explaining that he used his personal space on the International Space Station as a temporary polling place. After filling out his electronic ballot, he sent it to Harris County, Texas, where he is registered to vote.
How ballots from space reached Earth
NASA has a special process that allows astronauts to vote in US elections, even while on long-term missions outside Earth. Voting is done via the Near-Earth Network, which is part of the US space agency's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program.
Astronauts receive their ballots electronically, fill them out, and then send them back to Earth via an encrypted link. The data is transferred to NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston and from there transmitted to the appropriate election agencies. The process is designed to ensure the secrecy of the vote, as only the astronaut and an authorized election official have access to the contents of the ballot.
Who are the three astronauts who voted?
Anil Menon has been on the International Space Station since July 14, 2026, when he arrived aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, along with cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.
The American astronaut is an emergency physician and previously served as SpaceX's first flight physician, helping support the company's historic "Demo-2" mission, which sent astronauts into space for the first time.
He was selected by NASA in 2021 and is on a nearly 8-month mission to the ISS, where scientific experiments and tests of technologies related to future space exploration are being conducted.
The other two American crew members who participated in the vote are Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, who arrived at the Space Station on October 1 on a SpaceX mission. Their participation in the midterm elections took place without affecting their work and scientific research program on the station.
Since 1997, American astronauts have been able to vote from space. Voting from space was first introduced in 1997, when the state of Texas passed a special law allowing astronauts to vote while in orbit.
That same year, astronaut David Wolf became the first American to vote from space, while aboard the Russian space station Mir. Other astronauts have followed suit, including Kate Rubins, who voted from the International Space Station in the November 2020 presidential election.
Similarly, in the 2024 presidential election, four American astronauts were able to vote while on a mission to the ISS. This process allows astronauts to participate in their country's elections, despite working in an environment hundreds of kilometers away from Earth. ©LAPSI.al
