Betting on political events is a relatively new activity that has seen some popularity recently. Similar to sporting events, election market bets for political events can favor one candidate or another. In some cases, bettors can wager how far a candidate may go through a political campaign or when they may drop off. In sports, the expansion of betting across the US caused a great deal of concern, primarily related to the integrity of the competitions, especially when it comes to collegiate sports.
Now, a group of lawmakers raised concerns about the possibility of legal gambling on US elections in a recent letter addressed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The letter comes after back in June, a private predictions company called Kalshi, notified the Commission that it intends to offer “event contracts on the outcomes of US elections,” wrote the concerned lawmakers. This, in other words, means that the company seeks the approval of the CFTC to offer for-profit gambling on political outcomes.
For-Profit Gambling on Political Events Raises Concerns
In light of this, US Sen. Chris Van Hollen along with Sen. Jeff Merkley, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Edward J. Markey, Elizabeth Warren and Dianne Feinstein, sent a letter to the CFTC, urging the Commission’s chairman, Rostin Behnam, to reject the request submitted by Kalshi.
“There is no doubt that the mass commodification of our democratic process would raise widespread concerns about the integrity of our electoral process,“
reads a letter sent by the lawmakers to the CFTC
In their letter, the lawmakers said that if the democratic process goes through commodification, concerns about the integrity of the process may come. The letter underlines that this would represent an activity that is in opposition to the public interest, which is why, they urged the CFTC to reject the request from the private predictions company.
“Such an outcome is in clear conflict with the public interest and would undermine confidence in our political process — we urge the CFTC to deny Kalshi’s proposal,“
explained the lawmakers in their letter
According to the lawmakers, approval of the proposal by Kalshi would bring statewide for-profit gambling on political outcomes, an activity that may interfere with the elections. The concerned group of lawmakers also added that such for-profit activities may negatively impact the trust in the integrity of the elections in the United States. At the same time, the lawmakers warned that wealthy groups can abuse that process and impact the outcomes of what is otherwise a democratic election process.