{"id":2344795,"date":"2024-09-23T12:20:01","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T16:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stranded-astronauts-set-to-vote-from-outer-space\/"},"modified":"2024-09-23T12:22:15","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T16:22:15","slug":"stranded-astronauts-set-to-vote-from-outer-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stranded-astronauts-set-to-vote-from-outer-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranded Astronauts Set to Vote from Outer Space"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstranded-astronauts-set-to-vote-from-outer-space%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2344795&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, currently \u2064aboard the International Space Station (ISS), are \u2062set \u2064to vote in the upcoming November elections, a practice they began in 1997. \u2064Their stay\u200b in space has been extended due to safety concerns regarding\u200b their transport\u2064 vehicle, the Boeing Starliner, which recently returned to\u200b Earth. Both astronauts expressed the importance of voting as a civic duty, with Williams noting the excitement of voting from space as &#8220;pretty cool.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>They\u2063 will \u2064utilize a secure electronic absentee voting \u2062system\u200b provided by NASA, which \u2063ensures\u2064 that after \u2063they \u200dfill out their ballots, the votes \u2063are encrypted and sent back to the Harris County election officials\u200c for processing. This process includes sending a \u2064test ballot first\u200c and using specific credentials \u2062to\u2064 secure their access\u200c to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/huge-sidney-powell-witness-whom-ny-times-described-as-always-the-smartest-person-in-the-room-concludes-hundreds-of-thousands-of-votes-transferred-from-trump-to-biden-in-all-battleground-states\/\" title=\"HUGE! Sidney Powell Witness Whom NY Times Described as &quot;Always the Smartest Person in the Room&quot; Concludes Hundreds of Thousands of Votes Transferred from Trump to Biden IN ALL BATTLEGROUND STATES\">electronic ballot<\/a>. Previous astronauts have also shared experiences of voting from\u200d space, highlighting \u200dNASA&#8217;s established protocols to\u200c facilitate this civic engagement while in orbit.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> <script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s a long walk to the polling place for Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams.<\/p>\n<p>The two astronauts, whose stay aboard the International Space Station was supposed to last a few days instead of several months, will be voting from space this year, continuing a practice that began in 1997.<\/p>\n<p>Wilmore and Williams went to the space station in July on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/nasa-set-bring-starliner-back-will-leave-crew-space-boeing-drama-gets-even-worse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Boeing Starliner<\/a>. Due to concerns about the Starliner&rsquo;s safety, the two are remaining in space until next year. the Starliner returned to Earth this month in an uneventful remote-control landing.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very important duty that we have as citizens and I&rsquo;m looking forward to being able to vote from space, which is pretty cool,&rdquo; Williams said during a September 13 news conference from the space station, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/09\/19\/science\/boeing-starliner-astronauts-voting-from-space\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I sent down my request for a ballot today,&rdquo; Wilmore said.<\/p>\n<p>  <script> \t\t\t\tif( ! getCookie( 'ff_subbed' ) ) if( typeof FFADS.replace_ict !='undefined' ) if( FFADS.replace_ict ) eval( FFADS.replace_ict ); \t\t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very important role that we all play as citizens to be included in those elections, and NASA makes it very easy for us to do that,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">They may be stranded on board the International Space Station, but that isn&rsquo;t going to stop NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from voting in November&rsquo;s election.<\/p>\n<p>Read more about the astronauts marooned aboard the ISS. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/h7LQNcwpIQ\">https:\/\/t.co\/h7LQNcwpIQ<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/K3LPhmuH7B\">pic.twitter.com\/K3LPhmuH7B<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ABC News (@ABC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ABC\/status\/1836334346543992992?\">September 18, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Texas Election Code allows votes from &ldquo;a person who meets the eligibility requirements of a voter&hellip; but who will be on a space flight during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rnc-launches-early-voting-initiative-in-new-york\/\" title=\"RNC starts early voting drive in NY.\">early-voting period<\/a> and on election day.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Astronaut David Wolf became the first American to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-stuck-space-astronauts-make-first-public-comments-since-boeing-capsule-left-without\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> vote from space<\/a> that year.<\/p>\n<p>Former astronaut Leroy Chiao, who voted from space in 2004, said NASA was a step ahead of him when he realized he had not made arrangements for an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-nevada-a-corrupt-cash-for-votes-scheme-is-hiding-in-plain-sight\/\" title=\"In Nevada, A Corrupt Cash-For-Votes Scheme Is Hiding In Plain Sight\">absentee ballot<\/a> before liftoff.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When I left to go launch on my mission in October, I suddenly realized I hadn&rsquo;t put in for an absentee ballot and I hadn&rsquo;t made any arrangements.&nbsp;So I quickly asked NASA, &lsquo;Hey, can I vote from the station?&rsquo; And they said &lsquo;Oh yeah, we have a process in place.&nbsp;No problem,&rsquo;&rdquo; Chiao said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And it turned into a great kind of public service announcement, for me to send down messages encouraging people to go out and vote,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>After Wilmore and Williams fill out their electronic absentee ballots, the forms &ldquo;will be encrypted and uploaded into the space station&rsquo;s on-board computer system,&rdquo; according to NASA.<\/p>\n<p>Harris County elections officials said they are standing by to work with the astronauts.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Before sending the astronauts their ballot, a test ballot with a unique password is sent first,&rdquo; Rosio Torres-Segura, a spokesperson for the Harris County clerk, said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Crew member-specific credentials allow the astronauts access to a secure ballot. After a successful test, the secured ballot is sent as a fillable document so the astronauts can make their selections, save them, and send them back. Once the astronauts vote their live ballot, it is returned, printed, and processed with other ballots,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>A 2020 report from the <a href=\"https:\/\/airandspace.si.edu\/stories\/editorial\/how-do-astronauts-vote-space\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Air and Space Museum<\/a> said that when it comes to their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/hillary-clinton-makes-ridiculous-demand-nasa-first-female-spacewalk-canceled\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">address,<\/a> astronauts list it &nbsp;as &ldquo;low-Earth orbit.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\">  <\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> <label>* Name<\/label> <br \/> <input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> <\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> <label>* <\/label> <br \/> <input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> <\/div>\n<p> <label>* Message<\/label> <br \/> <textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> <input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\">  <\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\">  <\/div>\n<style> \t\t\t \t\t\t.insticator-unit.type-commenting{margin: 0 10px 25px 10px}@media screen and (max-width:1060px){#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{margin: 0 auto 25px auto !important;}}#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{height: 280px !important; width: 336px !important} \t\t<\/style>\n<div class=\"insticator-unit type-commenting\">\n<div class=\"insticator-ads\">   <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"insticator-ads additional\">   <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams face a lengthy journey to cast their votes, as they are currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their mission, initially planned for just a few days, has extended to several months due to safety concerns regarding the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. They arrived at the ISS in July and will remain there until next year after the Starliner successfully returned to Earth this month with no issues. During a news conference on September 13, Williams expressed her enthusiasm about voting from space, stating it is an important civic duty. Wilmore also mentioned that he had requested his ballot that day.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being in orbit, both astronauts are determined to participate in November&#8217;s election. The Texas Election Code permits individuals who meet voter eligibility requirements but will be on a space flight during early voting and election day to vote from space. David Wolf was the first American astronaut to do so back in 1997. Leroy Chiao recounted how NASA had procedures ready for him when he realized he hadn\u2019t arranged for an absentee ballot before his launch in 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Once Wilmore and Williams complete their electronic absentee ballots, these will be encrypted and uploaded into the ISS\u2019s computer system. Harris County elections officials are prepared to assist them; they first send a test ballot with a unique password before providing access to secure ballots specifically designed for each crew member. After filling out their live ballots electronically, those will be printed and processed alongside other votes once returned.<\/p>\n<p>According to a report from the Air and Space Museum in 2020, astronauts list their address as &#8220;low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2344796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/stronauts.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[20139,5088,4351],"class_list":["post-2344795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-astronauts","tag-space","tag-voting"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/stronauts.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2344795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2344795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2344795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2344795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}