Comment Text:
The choice of who holds the offices of our city, county, state, and Federal elections is a sacred right specifically enshrined in our US Constitution. Those elections give us the right to include our individual voices in the election process and their outcomes, regardless of our background, economic status, geography, beliefs, and personal values.
Introducing direct financial consequences to the electoral process by giving individuals the right to "invest" - that is, to gamble - in the political outcomes will denigrate our election process, cheapen the value of each individual's vote, and provide financial incentive to load the system with a monetary gain for the participants. Since only those who can afford or who choose to afford to gamble their hard-earned dollars will participate in these gambling games, the results of any given election could be easily skewed to favor those with the moist money to bet.
Make sure you implement your mission statement: “… to promote the integrity … of the … markets through sound regulation.” Election gambling is in direct conflict to our "one person, now vote" democratic process and will inevitably result in the weakening of our democracy, if not its outright destruction. Say NO to election gambling!
