Illinois to Offer Online Lottery Ticket Sales

A proposal in the Illinois legislature would allow the sale of Illinois state lotto tickets online. The proposal was spurred by lagging lottery ticket sales due to the economy. The move is expected to boost sales but there may be a catch.

Since its passage in 2006 using the most dishonest methods to insure passage, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) has had a lot of unintended consequences. In New Hampshire citizens buying state lotto tickets with a credit card at lotto terminals have found their transactions blocked by their banks due to the vague regulations set forth in the UIGEA.

Even though state lotteries are legal under the law many banks have shown that they will block any transactions they are unsure of. Enforcement of UIGEA was foisted on the banks with no government funding to compensate banks for their new law enforcement responsibilities.

Illinois Senate President, John Cullerton hopes that online lotto ticket sales will increase lottery revenues by as much as $300 million dollars. If financial institutions block transactions revenues will in all likelihood remain flat. The financial industry had predicted that the vague regulations would cause many problems and these are just beginning to surface. These predictions were ignored by the federal government which went ahead and passed UIGEA to pander to a tiny minority of anti gambling activists.

Hopefully the difficulties faced by New Hampshire and Illinois will prompt legislators to take another look at UIGEA. The law has caused many problems among them a dispute now in front of the World Trade Organization between Antigua and the United States and all indications are that the decision will be favorable to Antigua.

Should the Illinois lottery manage to solve the problems of online lottery ticket sales other states may follow and citizens will be able to enjoy the convenience of buying lottery tickets online. Several other states are thinking about allowing the sale of online lottery tickets. Many other states are trying to boost ticket sales and fill empty state coffers. Many states have been hard hit by the current recession and are trying to find original funding solutions.

The technology is already in place for the sale of online lottery tickets. Most players say they would welcome the ability to make an online lottery purchase from their home computers or cell phones. Players could also check state lottery websites for up to date lottery information and news. Several states may implement the sale of online lottery tickets as early as 2010.