Most Americans oppose betting on elections and government events, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

Opposition crosses party lines

Most Americans oppose wagering on elections and government events, according to Reuters’ reporting on a Reuters/Ipsos poll published Oct. 12, 2026. The findings highlight public resistance to those uses of prediction markets.

The survey, conducted Sept. 30–Oct. 5, found that 69% of Democrats opposed prediction-market betting on election results. Among Republicans, opposition stood at 61%.

That puts opposition above a majority in both groups, with an 8-percentage-point difference between Democrats and Republicans. Despite that gap, the results point in the same direction across party lines on election betting.

The available summary also reports opposition of 65%, but ends before identifying the betting category that figure describes. Reuters’ full article was unavailable, limiting further detail about the survey and its findings.

What it means for prediction markets

• Public acceptance remains a challenge: Majorities of both Democrats and Republicans opposed election-result betting in this poll.
• Opinion is not a policy outcome: These findings measure public attitudes; the available material does not establish any resulting regulatory or legislative action.
• Scope matters: The election-specific figures should not be treated as a measure of opposition to every prediction-market category.