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States Examining Election Betting Ban Bills

Robert Linnehan

By Robert Linnehan in Sports Betting News

Published:


Photo by Sora Shimazaki
Photo by Sora Shimazaki
  • Two states have introduced bills to ban betting on election outcomes
  • Massachusetts lawmakers will consider a bill to ban gambling on political outcomes
  • Indiana lawmakers will also consider a similar bill

State lawmakers are looking to take the fate of election betting into their own hands.

Two states, Massachusetts and Indiana, will consider legislation this year to potentially ban election betting or betting on election outcomes.

The states are looking to potentially ban these types of bets while federal lawmaker are also considering legislation to do so.

Gaming Commissions Unlikely to Allow Election Betting

Massachusetts Sen. Jacob R. Oliveira (D – Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester) introduced SD 2428 to prohibit gambling on political outcomes in the commonwealth. His bill asks to have the ban be declared as an “emergency law,” which would allow it to go into effect immediately upon approval.

His bill would prohibit betting on “political outcomes,” which would include, but not be limited to, “elections for public office within the commonwealth, appointment to public office, the passage, amendment or failure of legislative measures and any other official decision-making processes conducted by political bodies within the commonwealth.”

As it stands, betting on outcomes in elections in Massachusetts is likely a gray area, with no specific rule prohibiting such actions. However, if a sports betting operator attempted to offer betting markets on such outcomes, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) would have to approve them first.

The MGC is one of the the strictest gaming commission’s in the country and would be very unlikely to approve such markets.

In Indiana, Rep. J.D. Prescott (R-13) introduced HB 1532 to prohibit licensed sports betting operators from accepting bets regarding the outcome of an election. The legislation also specifically notes penalties for operators who do so.

If approved, the bill would go into effect on July 1, 2025. Like the MGC, there is no specific prohibition from the Indiana Gaming Commission banning gambling on the outcome of Indiana elections.

The potential legislation would specifically prohibit gambling on the “outcome of an election” and imposes the following fines if operators do not comply:

  • $1,000 fine for first offense
  • $2,500 fine for the second offense
  • $5,000 for a third offense and license revoked

Despite no prohibition being on the books in the state, the Indiana Gaming Commission would be unlikely to approve such markets.

Federal Lawmakers Looking at Ban

While the states are looking at potential election gambling bans, two U.S. House of Representatives members are looking to put an end to any momentum election betting may have gained over the last year.

U.S. Representatives Andrea Salinas (OR-06) and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) introduced the Ban Gambling on Elections Act to prohibit betting on U.S. elections this past December. The bill would effectively amend the Commodity Exchange Act, a law regulating the trading of commodities and futures in the the country.

The introduced legislation comes several months after Kalshi and ForecastEx took millions of “bets” on the presidential election and DraftKings leadership expressed interest in doing the same in four years.

The mechanism of wagering on president outcomes, which is typically labeled as “trading event contracts,” is regulated differently than sports betting markets. Sports betting is regulated by state gaming regulators and commissions, while the prediction markets are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Companies such as Kalshi will offer “contracts” to users, with prices for each contract reflecting demand from traders. Each prediction market contract matches a buyer and seller for each bet, while prices of the contracts fluctuate based on trading activity and market valuations.

The federal lawmakers are hoping to implement a ban to avoid “bad actors” from influencing or interfering with America’s election systems.

Robert Linnehan
Robert Linnehan

Regulatory Writer and Editor

Rob covers all regulatory developments in online gambling. He specializes in US sports betting news along with casino regulation news as one of the most trusted sources in the country.

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