Question of the day
Monday, Jul 27, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* NPR…
Ann Jacobs is a commissioner with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, a quiet, low-profile state agency that oversees elections. Recently, though, her day was anything but quiet.
“I was sitting at my desk, and all of a sudden Twitter was showing a lot of alerts,” said Jacobs, who watched a flood of posts inundate her screen from employees, lawyers and other boosters of the prediction market company Kalshi.
“My reaction was, boy howdy are they mad,” Jacobs said.
The outrage took Jacobs aback because of what set off the attacks: a commission advisory informing voters that they cannot place a bet in an election in which they cast a ballot.
Wagering on such a race could disqualify a ballot, or even result in a referral to state prosecutors, according to the commission’s statement.
This is not a new policy. The advisory was simply stating the basics of a Wisconsin election law originally passed in 1849, Jacobs said.
“You can’t be a felon on active supervision and vote. If you’re 17, you can’t vote, and betting on an election where you vote, it’s the same thing, it’s not allowed,” she said.
Jump ahead to 2026, and Kalshi, the company leading the prediction market craze, is criticizing the law, calling it “bananas,” “illegal” and a type of “voter suppression.”
* The Question: Should it be legal or illegal for Illinoisans to bet on Illinois elections? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
- Interested Bystander - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 1:17 pm:
You can “bet” on your candidate by making a campaign contribution. The integrity of our elections have taken enough hits of late. Let’s not add to that with betting that leads to profits.
- Steve Polite - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 1:24 pm:
Voted Illegal. How is this any different than athletes participating in a sporting contest betting on the outcome of the game? Allowing voters to bet on outcomes of elections in which they are voting is a dangerous road to go down. It could easily lead to unforeseen negative consequences.
- Diane - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 1:25 pm:
Illegal in that all of this prediction market crap ought to be illegal. Kalshi and their ilk are a drain on society.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 1:25 pm:
Kalshi is gambling. Plain and simple.
- Just Another Anon - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 1:28 pm:
Having inside information and using it to profit from gambling markets should always be prohibited. Too many people with “too much” information. The Pete Rose defense isn’t good enough here.
- Nyxie - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 1:39 pm:
Yes, but in the sense that gambling on public elections shouldn’t be allowed in prediction markets.
- low level - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 2:07 pm:
Legal. This is a contract. For every yes share i buy, there is someone on the other side of the trade buying no. Its value is derived from how a candidate is performing - a classic derivative. If my candidate starts to do poorly, I can sell my yes shares and recoup some of my losses. Or, if he does well, I can sell at a profit.
If this is considered “gambling”, then all futures and options contracts on stocks must be considered “gambling” as well. Do er really want to do that?
- sewer thoughts - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 2:11 pm:
30 of these readers are degenerates. If this was 20 years ago, that would be funnier.
- Leslie K - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 2:14 pm:
Voted illegal because I believe these prediction markets themselves should be illegal, particularly as applied to elections.
A single person with one vote, betting that the candidate they voted for will either win or lose, is not the same sort of “inside information” or influence that such bans typically address (e.g. candidates or staffers betting, sports players betting on their own games that they could throw). But it is nevertheless not good for the democratic process.
- Leslie K - Monday, Jul 27, 26 @ 2:16 pm:
==If this is considered “gambling”, then all futures and options contracts on stocks must be considered “gambling” as well. Do er really want to do that?==
Um, yes–because they are? Just saying.