Arizona, Pennsylvania Election Officials Ban Workers From Prediction Market Contracts

According to CNBC, election and county officials in Arizona and Pennsylvania are barring employees from participating in prediction market contracts tied to elections, citing concerns that workers with access to ballots could use non-public information. Maricopa County supervisor Thomas Galvin said the county adopted a July resolution covering about 13,000 employees and that Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed an executive order banning state workers from insider trading on prediction markets. Delaware County, Pennsylvania, also banned roughly 2,200 employees from trading on election-linked prediction market contracts, while Maryland's elections administrator asked the state prosecutor in July to investigate whether such contracts violate state law. Officials said prediction market odds can be confused with polling, and Kalshi and Polymarket said they have taken steps to prevent insider trading on their platforms.