How Astronauts Vote From Space

Since 1997, US astronauts have been able to cast a vote during an election whilst not on the planet. This is how they do it:-

The process of voting from space actually begins on the ground. According to the 1997 bill, astronauts in space can cast an absentee ballot from their spacecraft with the help of the County Clerk of Harris and Brazoria counties, which contain Houston and its surrounding area.

The County Clerk's office prepares a secure electronic ballot that is then relayed to the International Space Station via NASA's Mission Control room at the Johnson Space Center. Meanwhile, the Clerk's Office sends a separate e-mail to the astronaut with login information to access the ballot and vote.

The completed ballot is then beamed back to Mission Control and sent back to the County Clerk's office to be tallied.

[via]