Betting on U.S. elections can resume after legal freeze, appeals court rules
Last edited Wed Oct 2, 2024, 10:39 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: CNBC
Published Wed, Oct 2 2024 10:27 AM EDT Updated 8 Min Ago
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., cleared the way Wednesday for Americans to bet on the outcome of the 2024 congressional elections.
The appeals court in a decision rejected an effort by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to prohibit the commodities exchange KalshiEx from offering Congressional Control Contracts as the federal agency appealed a lower courts ruling that gave a green light for such bets.
The CFTC has failed to at this time to demonstrate that it or the public will be irreparably injured without a stay on the contracts being offered during that appeal, wrote Judge Patricia Millett of the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit. Millett, who was part of a three-judge panel hearing the case, said the agency could renew its bid to block the contracts pending the outcome of its appeal should substantiating evidence arise.
There were no dissents on Wednesdays 15-page decision in favor of KalshiEx, which offers customers contracts that can hedge the risk of certain events occurring.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/02/bets-on-congressional-races-allowed-cftc-appeals-court.html
Article updated.
Original article/headline -
Published Wed, Oct 2 2024 10:27 AM EDT Updated 3 Min Ago
A federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to block a lower-court ruling allowing Americans to bet on the outcome of the 2024 congressional elections.
The appeals court decision rejected an effort by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission to prohibit the commodities exchange KalshiEx from offering Congressional Control Contracts while the CFTC appealed the lower-courts ruling giving the green light for such bets.
The CFTC has failed to at this time to demonstrate that it or the public will be irreparably injured without a stay on the contracts being offered during the appeal, wrote Judge Patricia Millett of the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The CFTC had barred KalshiEx from listing those contracts on the exchange, which the commission regulates, on the ground that they would violate the laws of many states that ban gambling on elections. But a judge in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ruled last month that the CFTC had erred in finding that KalshiExs congressional contracts involved gaming or gambling.
malthaussen
(17,736 posts)In our politics-as-sport environment, it should be legal to bet on the election of the dog catcher.
-- Mal
Harker
(15,082 posts)It's not hard to come up with several very bad potential outcomes to people (and corporations are people, I have heard) betting on political races and referenda.