For example, former Republican CFTC Commissioner Jill Sommers opposed a prior proposal by the company, noting that “When we think about what happened in 2020, do we really want another excuse for the American people to question the integrity of our elections?” Nonpartisan advocacy organization Better Markets, where I am president and CEO, also opposed this as violating the Commodities Exchange Act and state and federal laws as well as sound public policy. Opposition to gambling on elections is bipartisan and nonpartisan. While the pending proposal is limited to betting on the partisan control of Congress, if approved, there’s no doubt that traders will quickly be able to wager on the outcome of all sorts of elections, from local to presidential. Regardless of how it is packaged, pitched or processed, this is gambling pure and simple. elections via so-called “event contracts,” which the company claims should be regulated by the CFTC. Nevertheless, this company is seeking CFTC approval to allow traders to bet on U.S. (or to overrule the many state laws carefully regulating gaming and gambling). Moreover, the CFTC has nothing to do with gaming, gambling or elections and has no experience, expertise or mandate to legalize, authorize or police gambling on elections across the U.S. But the private company is trying to do this in a way that would attract as little attention or debate as possible by submitting a proposal to the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC), the smallest financial regulatory agency that is chronically underfunded and understaffed.

elections would be a dramatic policy change with potentially grave national implications. For example, it is easy to imagine how AI or social media might be manipulated to quickly circulate false and misleading information and “ deepfakes” within hours or days of an election that could move enough votes to change the election’s results. Gambling on elections would create very powerful incentives for bad actors, or even those just looking to make a quick buck, to interfere with our elections and try to sway voters outside of the democratic process.

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