Vote in the space? How astronauts vote by floating

How do you express your vote in the void of space?

As voters head to polling stations across the country in the 2018 mid-term elections, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are flying more than 300 km away.

Thanks to a special electronic ballot and a Texas-adopted bill in 1997, NASA astronauts can vote from space.

This is how NASA says it works:

Six months before an election, astronauts receive the unique credentials of each member of the crew and complete a standard form – "Application for Registration of an Elector and Voting by Mail – Postcard Request" Federal ". The secure electronic ballot is then returned to Earth.

According to NASA, "space voting" was first used in 1997, the year of its implementation. David Wolf became the first American to vote in space.

In the 2008 presidential election between Republican John McCain and former President Barack Obama, two astronauts voted for the ISS.

In the 2016 presidential election, Shane Kimbrough – the only US astronaut at the station at the time – could also say "I voted from space".

Three astronauts are currently on board the station. They must return on December 20, 2018.