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Wisconsin election officials are pushing back on election betting ahead of the midterms, saying voters cannot place bets on races in which they cast a ballot under a state law dating to 1849. Prediction market operator Kalshi has threatened legal action in response, arguing the restriction is illegal and amounts to voter suppression.
According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the advisory did not create a new rule. Commissioner Ann Jacobs said it was simply a statement of existing state election law.
Jacobs said the state’s concern is straightforward: voters should choose candidates based on who they believe is best for the job, not on whether a wager could pay out.
The dispute matters beyond Wisconsin because election betting remains restricted in much of the U.S. The National Conference of State Legislatures says it is illegal in some or all circumstances in 32 states. At the same time, billions of dollars are traded every week on prediction market platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket, with operators expecting the 2026 midterms to be a major event.
Kalshi declined to comment in the source report, but the company has objected strongly to Wisconsin’s position. The report says Kalshi recently launched a midterm election dashboard that lets traders monitor and place money on dozens of races at once.
Critics of election betting say the issue is not just gambling policy, but election integrity. Matt Barreto, director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project, argued there should be no money tied to democratic outcomes. He also raised concerns that foreign actors or partisan bettors could try to influence perceptions of momentum, and warned about the risk of insider trading or conflicts involving people connected to election administration.
For players and market watchers, the key question is what happens next. It is still unclear whether Kalshi will formally sue, how Wisconsin would enforce its prohibition in practice, or whether other states will issue similar advisories before the midterms. Those next steps could shape how aggressively states move to restrict election-related prediction markets in the months ahead.
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Source: As reported by Bobby Allyn.
