Comment Text:
I personally believe we would be making a mockery of our electoral process by promoting betting on the outcomes of proposals or elections. This would surely encourage election interference, abuse by or of election officials, and misconduct in order to manipulate winnings.
In the 2020 election cycle, we saw mistrust of our elections spread like wildfire. The last thing we need as a country is a legitimate reason for people to question the outcomes of our elections. Bettors could use artificial intelligence to create false or misleading videos aimed at changing popular opinion and maximizing their chances of winning a bet, people could intimidate election officials in order to win bets, or harass and accuse them of wrongdoing if the outcome loses them money, political betting would only make people more singularly focused on the success of their party and not what a particular party or proposal is about.
The CFTC should not plant the seed for corruption of and profiteering from our election process.