CFTC’s presidential election betting ban backed by US senators
Letter signed by five US senators and three congress members claims wagers “fundamentally cheapens the sanctity of our democratic process”
A group of US senators and Congress members have written a letter supporting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed betting ban on future presidential elections.
In May, the commission voted 3-2 in favor of introducing a rule banning event contracts that served as wagers on not only political elections, but also award ceremonies such as the Oscars.
Following the vote, CFTC chair Rostin Behnam said: “Contracts involving political events ultimately commoditize and degrade the integrity of the uniquely American experience of participating in the democratic electoral process.”
Placing bets or wagers on the outcome of elections is prohibited in several states. Despite this, prediction market Polymarket has taken $507m in bets on the 2024 election winner, $327.8m in the Democratic nominee, and $121m in Democratic VP nominee.
The letter addressed to Behnam was signed by US senators Jeffrey Merkley, Sheldon Whitehouse, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Richard Blumenthal, as well as Congress members Jamie Raskin, John Sarbanes, and Eleanor Holmes Norton.
In it, the group noted that the commission had to “increasingly divert resources away from its primary job regulating markets for goods, services, and other financial matters in order to address a growing number of private companies and other entities seeking to use CFTC regulated markets to directly profit off of US elections.”
Highlighting how “billionaires” are able to place wagers while contributing to a candidate, or political insiders can bet using non-public information, the eight signees said public trust in the electoral process would degrade further and called on the suspension of betting on elections.
It also accused election gambling of fundamentally cheapening “the sanctity of our democratic process” due to the motivations behind each “replacing political convictions with financial calculations.”
The letter read: “We strongly support the proposed rulemaking to prevent further corruption of our electoral system by moneyed interests.
“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 US 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.”
The letter continued: “Voters need action, as proposed by the CFTC in this rule, to restore trust. Elections are not a for-profit enterprise. Without this rule, voters will wonder if their vote mattered, and the whether the outcome of the election was influenced by big money bets.”
At the time of writing, the odds of Donald Trump succeeding Joe Biden were 11/13 via Oddschecker, with Kamala Harris at 11/10.
The proposed ban came after the UK general election in July was riddled with controversy after several Conservative Party politicians were investigated for placing bets on the election.