Election Officials Are Preparing for Prediction Markets to Sow Chaos in the Midterms
Election officials are implementing new oaths for workers to prevent conflicts of interest related to prediction markets. Officials fear these markets could incentivize the manipulation of election results and fuel public distrust in democratic processes.
Why it matters
The rise of betting markets on political outcomes poses new regulatory and security challenges for election integrity.
As a result, Allen and the board of elections in Delaware County amended the oaths signed by people involved in elections to include “an affirmation that the workers have no direct or indirect interests in any bets, wagers, or prediction markets.”
Some 2,500 people, including everyone from full-time staff in the elections office to temporary employees helping process ballots on Election Day, have signed the oath ahead of November’s midterms.
“The rapid growth of prediction markets, and their plans to prey on elections, are direct threats to undermining trust in electoral outcomes,” Allen tells WIRED. “The overriding concern is that prediction markets have the potential to monetize a reward for manipulating results and, equally concerning, capitalizing on the anger and frustration by those who lose in these prediction markets.”
Increased Threats
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