Gambling has exploded in the United States in recent years, thanks in large part to the expansion of gambling laws to allow for everything from online casino gambling to legal sports betting.
Now, another expansion of those betting laws could soon come to America, which would allow U.S. citizens to legally bet on the outcome of political elections here.
A Washington federal judge recently struck down a Commodity Futures Trading Commission decision that prohibits companies from offering what ultimately amounts to a bet on the outcome of congressional elections.
That was a win for Kalshi, a company based in New York that filed a challenge to the decision.
U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb didn’t detail what was behind her reasoning.
Instead, she simply paused the matter until a hearing could be held this week. Following that, it’s likely that the rationale behind the decision could be released.
It’s also possible that the agency could receive its requested delay of two weeks for the case.
In a court filing, Kalshi wrote:
“The commission lost, fair and square, on the law. It should not be allowed to snatch a procedural victory from the jaws of defeat by running out the clock” until the November elections take place.
They continued:
“As the election nears, Kalshi and the public deserve access to the contracts that the CFTC has blocked for too long already.”
There are no jurisdictions in the U.S. that have authorized companies to offer betting on political elections. Many states that have expanded gambling laws in recent years even explicitly ban the practice.
That being said, bettors who decide to use overseas-based betting sites do have access to these bets. Betting on elections is actually very widespread and popular in many European countries.
Kalshi had requested last year to offer bets such with an outcome of yes or no on whether a particular political party would gain control of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives.
But, in September of 2023, the CFTC ruled that those bets would constitute illegal gambling activity contrary to the public interest.
As the agency wrote in its decision then:
“[Such bets] could potentially be used in ways that would have an adverse effect on the integrity of elections, or the perception of integrity of elections — for example, by creating monetary incentives to vote for particular candidates.”
It’s not clear at this point whether Kalshi — or any other betting company — might seek to expand political betting to other markets such as the presidential race or individual elections for particular seats in Congress, for example.
Many of the major sportsbooks in the country told The Associated Press back in 2020 that if it were legal to offer bets on the U.S. presidential election, they’d be eager to start offering them.
At many European bookmakers, Vice President Kamala Harris is listed as a slight favorite of GOP nominee Donald Trump to win November’s presidential election.
Betting odds, of course, do not necessarily indicate who is going to win, though.
