Kalshi attacks Wisconsin law banning election bets as ‘voter suppression’

The prediction market firm Kalshi has publicly attacked a Wisconsin law dating back to 1849 that bars voters from betting on elections in which they themselves cast a ballot, branding the restriction "voter suppression". The row began after the Wisconsin Elections Commission issued an advisory warning voters that placing such wagers could see their ballot disqualified or lead to prosecution, prompting Kalshi to launch a social media campaign against the ruling. The dispute matters because it feeds into a wider, escalating fight between prediction market companies and state regulators over whether election betting should be treated as a legitimate financial product or as gambling that threatens the integrity of elections.

Kalshi argues that betting on elections can motivate people to vote who might otherwise stay home, and insists such wagers are federally regulated financial instruments ("swaps") rather than gambling, putting it at odds with state gambling law. Wisconsin's ban is not unusual: election betting remains illegal in 32 US states, and Kalshi is currently locked in legal disputes with regulators in nearly half the country. Since May, the company says it has blocked "dozens" of campaign staffers from betting on their own candidates' races. Election experts, including UCLA's Matt Barreto and MIT's Charles Stewart, have raised concerns about risks such as foreign actors manipulating odds, insider trading, and even the theoretical risk of poll workers skewing counts for financial gain, with Barreto arguing there "should be absolutely no money involved in the outcome of our democracy."