Kalshi attacks Wisconsin law banning election bets as 'voter suppression'
Prediction market platform Kalshi is challenging a Wisconsin law that prohibits betting on elections in which the user is a voter. State officials maintain the law is a standard measure to protect election integrity, while Kalshi characterizes it as voter suppression.
Why it matters
The conflict underscores the growing tension between the rise of political prediction markets and traditional state-level election regulations.
Ann Jacobs is a commissioner with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, a quiet, low-profile state agency that oversees elections. Recently, though, her day was anything but quiet.
"I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden Twitter was showing a lot of alerts," said Jacobs, who watched a flood of posts inundate her screen from employees, lawyers and other boosters of the prediction market company Kalshi.
"My reaction was, boy howdy are they mad," Jacobs said.
Technology Kalshi says it's not a sportsbook even as World Cup bets surge The outrage took Jacobs aback because of what set off the attacks: a commission advisory informing voters that they cannot place a bet in an election in which they cast a ballot.
Wagering on such a race could disqualify a ballot, or even result in a referral to state prosecutors, according to the commission's statement.
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