Andrew Morgan has been in space for four months, but that didn’t stop him from voting in the Pennsylvania local election. Ed Allison, who is in charge of the Lawrence County electoral registration, where the astronaut lives with his family, spoke to CNN and said that early last month Morgan was sent a ballot and a secure password via email, reports Trend referring to Jerusalem Post.
"We secured the ballot and it will be counted Friday and it is expected to be counted today (Friday) at the end of the Earth vote,” he said. "This is the first time we ever did anything from the space station. We've gone out to hospitals and delivered ballots and brought it back. We will accommodate any voter as long as it is within the assets that we have available to us. " NASA declined to confirm in a conversation with CNN whether other astronauts in space voted in elections in their home countries during space missions.
Astronauts are allowed to vote while in space thanks to a law passed in Texas in 1997, according to a NASA Tumblr post. The law, signed by then-Texas Governor George W. Bush, came into effect because most of the astronauts at that time lived in Texas. For many, the outer space voting process takes place about a year before their journey. They choose which election systems they want to vote in and fill out the appropriate forms. Those staying in the space must contact the representatives responsible for the election about a month before Election Day.