Nov 4, 2008 08:20 AM
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Tue Feb 9
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Think you're facing long lines at your local polling place? At least you aren't casting your vote from over 200 miles above the Earth's surface. Astronauts E. Michael Fincke and Gregory Chamitoff will be voting from the International Space Station today, and their right to do it is the result of a relatively new law.
Astronauts who are in space at the time of an election were given the right to vote by a 1997 Texas law (astronauts tend to live in or near Houston). Fincke and Chamitoff will cast their votes, and the results will be sent to the Harris and Brazoria County Clerk via encrypted downlinks and emails. The two participatory democracy loving space travelers even made a "Get Out the Vote" video while on board the ISS.
If they're going through all that trouble to vote, wouldn't you feel like a jerk if you didn't bother? So vote already!
No word on which candidate the astronauts plan to vote for, but the ISS is sporting a "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Kodos" bumper sticker. Image by: NASA.
Be like an astronaut: Vote! [Scientific American]
Send an email to Ed Grabianowski, the author of this post, at edgrab@io9.com.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
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