I occasionally post pieces about the election markets because I think they are helpful for understanding various issues in the election process. Slate.com runs a feature on the markets. One interesting thing to think about using these markets is how they might help us to identify threats to the election process. Election markets can tell us when elections will be close, thus more likely to be disrupted by administrative or intentional failures. (This is especially true in presidential primary elections, given that these markets tend to be national in focus).