Are political betting markets a threat to democracy? A group of US lawmakers including Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are calling on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to ban those betting markets for exactly that reason.
Led by Markley, a group of Democratic lawmakers recently sent a letter to CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam asking him to ban political betting markets as soon as possible. The group told Behnam that allowing this type of wager, especially in the current political climate, could not only introduce more big money influence to an already broken system, but could also potentially change the outcome of those elections.
The letter, which was posted on Markley’s website, asks that the CFTC approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that was posted in May that explicitly bans US-facing betting markets from accepting political contracts.
Political betting contracts are something of a grey area in the US gaming market and are already banned in 12 states. Betting exchanges as a whole are still relatively uncommon in the US and are themselves banned in some states.
In the letter Markley paints a dark, and accurate, picture of the United States saying “As we approach the 2024 election, voters already face a political system that allows the richest individuals and corporations to funnel dark money into campaigns without disclosure. The threat of violence and extremism is high, and the U.S. remains a target for foreign actors who have sought to meddle in our elections.”
“The last thing that voters heading to the polls need are bets waged on the outcome of that election. Voters need action, as proposed by the CFTC in this rule, to restore trust. Elections are not a for-profit enterprise,” he concludes.
It’s unclear how soon the CFTC would be able to act on the Senators’ request since it is already embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit from US-facing betting exchanges over this very issue.