October 4, 2024 10:30 a.m.

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley issued a statement on Wednesday after a federal appeals court lifted a temporary freeze on election betting markets.

A release said the ruling will immediately allow legal gambling on U.S. elections while the final verdict in the lawsuit is decided. The suit was brought by Kalshi Inc. and disputes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s decision to prevent the listing of betting contracts on U.S. elections, such as control of Congress.

Merkley said, “When we reduce our democracy to a horse race for the ultra-rich and huge corporations to bet on, we demolish the integrity of our democratic process and put corporate profits over people. This ruling comes almost 30 days before one of the most consequential elections in our nation’s history and opens the door to this terrifying practice”.

Merkley said, “Gambling on U.S. elections is a bad bet for our democracy. Effective immediately, huge Wall Street firms can open trading to the wealthy so they can bet millions on which party controls the House or Senate. And those folks can spend big in dark money to attack candidates to protect their bets”.

The release said the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia lifts the stay to allow legal betting on elections while the court continues its final review of the case.