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The chair of the state’s elections commission in Wisconsin has issued an ominous warning to state voters.
“I know it’s all the rage to bet on everything, but you cannot bet on an election in Wisconsin! If you do, your ballot can be challenged & thrown out," Chair Ann Jacobs posted on her social media account.
While some offshore gambling sites like BetOnline offer elections betting, Jacobs remarks appeared to be aimed primarily at prediction market platforms like Kalshi, which are not only accessible to Wisconsin residents but are also based here in the United States (New York City) and are licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Kalshi has also fought back hard against some state regulators and lawmakers. So far, only Nevada has had any success keeping them out, albeit temporarily.
Jacobs supported her claim that individual ballots can be tossed out if a voter is found to be placing bets on the election by posting a screen shot of the actual law, in place since 1849. Keep in mind, she is referencing a law that went into affect 71 years before women could vote in this country. In fact, it wasn't until 1885 when Wisconsin passed a law allowing women to vote only in school-related elections (like school boards and education issues).
"No person under guardianship, non compos mentis, or insane, shall be qualified to vote in any election ; nor shall any person convicted of treason, felony, or bribery, unless restored to civil rights, nor shall any person who, being an inhabitant of this state, may hereafter be engaged, directly or indirectly, in a duel, either as principal or accessory, be permitted to vote at any election; nor shall any person who shall have made or become directly or indirectly interested in any bet or wager, depending upon the result of any election at which he shall offer to vote, be permitted to vote at such election."
Some people have gotten VERY ANGRY that I posted about Wisconsin's "no betting on voting" law. This is not new. After some sleuthing, I can tell you that this law has been in place since 1849, one year after Wisconsin became a state! 1/2 https://t.co/wMDT2t0tph pic.twitter.com/4O4gFy7apf
— Ann Jacobs (@AnnJacobsMKE) March 27, 2026
While it's true that those found to be placing a bet on the Wisconsin governor's race are technically ineligible to vote in that same election, in theory, the law is meant to apply before or at the moment of voting, not retroactively.
The rule is triggered by your status at the time you cast your ballot. In theory, if you had no betting interest at that moment, you weren’t disqualified at that exact time.
More importantly, election officials do not check betting activity when someone votes.
And then there is this: Wisconsin uses secret ballot that cannot be tied back to the voter. Prediction platforms like Kalshi do not make public the bets of individual traders (i.e. Josh McCormick of Kenosha placed a $50 trade on Mandela Barnes).
Furthermore, this provision is widely viewed as a historical anti-corruption rule that hasn’t been actively enforced.
Jacobs fully admits she's unaware of any ballots ever being challenged because of a person’s electoral wager, and the state isn’t hunting for culprits.
“No, the state is not going out and issuing search warrants to betting platforms to cross reference against voters,” said Jacobs. “I think the most likely way this would come up would be exactly how you think, which is somebody posted on social media saying, ‘Hey, I made this big bet,’ and then someone who doesn’t like them reports it to the authorities.”
Jacobs said she “will be surprised if it doesn’t come up in the future, simply because people are betting on everything and anything right now, and they’re using their phones to do it.”
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
