Three U.S. astronauts on the International Space Station voted electronically in the 2026 midterms and sent encrypted ballots to election officials in Texas.
Votes from orbit on Election Day
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, NASA astronaut Anil Menon posted on X that he and crewmates Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins had cast their midterm ballots from the International Space Station.
"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," Menon wrote, according to his verified @astro_anil account. The post included a short video of Menon in his crew quarters wearing an "I Voted" sticker.
Space.com and Al Jazeera English reported the same account of the three Americans voting from orbit. Menon said his room "doubles as a voting booth," and that he filled out an electronic form on his computer and sent it to Harris County, Texas, officials.
How ballots travel from space
Most NASA astronauts register to vote in Harris County because Johnson Space Center is in Houston. According to NASA, astronauts request absentee ballots like other Americans away from home, then fill out electronic ballots aboard the station.
NASA says the encrypted ballot moves through its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to a ground antenna at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, then to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center, and finally to the county clerk. Only the astronaut and the clerk can access the ballot.
Key points, according to NASA and Space.com:
- Americans have been able to vote from space since a 1997 Texas law.
- NASA astronaut David Wolf cast the first space ballot from Russia’s Mir station that year.
- Delaney and Watkins arrived on SpaceX’s Crew-13 mission on Oct. 1; Menon has been aboard since mid-July.
Calls to vote on the ground
Sen. Mark Kelly, a former NASA astronaut, quoted Menon’s post on X and urged people on Earth to vote. "If the astronauts on the ISS can find the time to vote, you can too!" Kelly wrote, linking to a polling-location tool.
The midterms decide control of the House and Senate, dozens of governorships, and many state offices. Officials from both major parties spent Election Day pressing supporters to cast ballots in person or drop off mail ballots before polls close.
Neither NASA nor the astronauts said which candidates they chose. Ballots remain private once they reach county clerks.
Voting from space is a long-running U.S. practice, not a new rule for 2026. Still, Menon’s Election Day video drew wide attention on X as millions of Americans waited in lines or checked ballot-tracking tools on the ground.
Sources: Anil Menon on X, Sen. Mark Kelly on X, Space.com, NASA voting explainer, Al Jazeera English
