Comment Text:
I writing to express my strong opposition to allowing betting on elections. Please, do not take us down this path.
The CFTC should not add fuel to the fire of election conspiracy theories or ambush election officials with attacks from highly-motivated bettors.
Allowing betting on the outcomes of elections will encourage election interference, abuse of election officials, and other misconduct to maximize people’s winnings.
Malicious 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 or wrongdoing if the outcome loses them money.
Politics is already a team sport, where people root for their party rather than learning about policy.
Political betting would only make people even more singularly focused on the success of their party and not what governments are actually doing.
I appreciate your taking my comments into consideration and opposing election betting. Thank you.
