- A recent survey found that 44% of Americans believe betting on election outcomes on prediction markets should be illegal.
- Over 50% of survey respondents said it should be legal to place sports bets on prediction markets.
- There have been multiple incidents involving insider trading and manipulation of political outcome contracts in recent months, causing many states to attempt regulation.
WASHINGTON – A significant chunk of Americans believe that it should be illegal to place wagers on election outcomes. In fact, 44% of respondents from a Politico survey said betting on political elections, what the president will say, or who will receive a presidential pardon should be illegal.
Sports Betting Receives Higher Approval Than Election Outcomes
Survey respondents were asked which of the following things should be legal or illegal to place bets on, with sports receiving the most approval and terrorism the least. Roughly 53% of respondents said it should be legal to place bets on sports (23% illegal, 23% don’t know), compared to just 30% on election outcomes (44% illegal, 25% don’t know).
The 23% “don’t know” and 23% illegal vote for sports betting were the lowest of any topic, followed by the weather and award shows. Wagers for acts of terrorism and the outcome of wars received 12% and 17% approval rating, respectively, with the majority of respondents believing betting on these outcomes should be illegal.
Betting On Election Outcomes Causes Controversy
While betting at Presidential betting sites is one thing, there have been multiple instances of figures with confidential information placing wagers on prediction markets. The biggest involved a US special forces soldier winning over $400,000 on Polymarket for betting on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with his classified information.
Since then, a US Draft defense bill includes regulations to prevent insider trading within the military and employees of the Department of Defense. Another case involved three Congressional candidates using prediction markets to bet on their own elections with Kalshi.
