Wisconsin Tells Prediction Market Traders They Can Lose Voting Rights, Face Criminal Charges

Prediction market traders in Wisconsin who place trades on elections in which they also could lose their vote rights or face felony charges, according to a new directive issued by the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC).

The commission acknowledges yes/no exchanges are soaring in popularity and that monitoring what market participants are doing on those platforms is difficult, but the election oversight body reminds Badger State voters it’s against the law to bet on an election in which they’ve also voted.

“We want voters to understand that they cannot legally make a bet on an election and cast a ballot in that same election,” WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe said in a statement. “We are not able to police someone placing a bet on these platforms, but it’s important for voters to understand the consequences if they bet on an election outcome.”

Pursuant to Wisconsin Statute § 6.03(2), state law can disqualify any elector from any election in which that person has “become interested, directly or indirectly, in any bet or wager depending upon the result of the election.”

Under Wisconsin Statute § 12.13(1)(a), it’s a Class A felony to vote in an election without having proper qualifications.

Wisconsin Taking Hard Line Against Prediction Markets

State-level data is fluid, but some prediction market operators estimate they have hundreds of thousands of clients in Wisconsin.

The state has a reputation for taking a hard line against all-or-nothing exchanges. In April, Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) sued five prediction markets, alleging those companies are offering an unlicensed form of sports wagering. The following month, Gov. Tony Evers (D) signed Executive Order 294, which bans executive branch employees from leveraging their access to non-public information to profit on prediction markets.

Earlier this month, the bipartisan WEC unanimously approved a memo detailing “legal ramifications and concerns about prediction markets and elections.”

“Commission staff believe that prediction market betting on elections is likely to become more prevalent in Wisconsin,” according to the memo. “With the lack of clarity and legal consensus concerning whether prediction markets qualify as gaming or betting, many Wisconsinites may not understand using prediction markets as betting at all, or that such actions prevent them from voting under Wis. Stat. § 6.03(2) subject to felony-level consequence.”

Other States Frown on Election Betting

While sports derivatives are front-and-center in states’ legal fights against prediction markets, the issue of political derivatives is gaining prominence, too. It’s relatively new regulatory frontier because traditional sportsbooks have long been prohibited from offering election bets in the U.S. and it is territory gaming companies haven’t bothered entering.

Twenty-three states have laws against wagering on elections and there’s hope Congress will act to make such bans uniform across the country.

“There are currently no federal laws addressing prediction markets for elections, however the Stop Trading On Predictions (STOP) Corrupt Bets Act of 2026 (H.R. 8123) which would ban prediction market bets on elections has been introduced as a bill,” notes the WEC. “The U.S. Senate also has banned its members and staff from prediction market betting.”