Wedgewood Polls admits fabricating voter data for experiment

An American polling institute admitted to fabricating voter data and deceiving major media outlets and political campaigns ahead of the midterm elections, exposing widespread vulnerabilities in how public sentiment is measured and reported.

Wedgewood Polls Admits Fabrication After FiftyPlusOne Inquiry

The polling firm Wedgewood Polls confessed to manipulating survey results after the polling aggregator FiftyPlusOne questioned the legitimacy of its data, reported. Wedgewood claimed on the platform X that the fabrications were part of an “experiment” designed to test how easily a fictitious institute could secure credibility. The company’s account was subsequently deleted.

Before the exposure, the fake figures circulated widely and appeared in major media databases. The New York Times stated in an editorial note that its database contained 15 polls from Wedgewood Polls published between June and October, all of which have since been removed. Welt reported that FiftyPlusOne initiated the scrutiny by pressing Wedgewood on its survey methods.

Fake Polls Damage Democratic Fundraising and Support

The fabricated surveys directly impacted competitive primary and general election races, leaving campaigns struggling with damaged fundraising and lost support. Democratic Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow from Michigan found herself targeted by a late-June Wedgewood poll showing her with single-digit support.

Writing on X, McMorrow stated that the numbers ruined her campaign by driving away volunteers and drying up donations while journalists pressured her to drop out. Welt noted that the fake data also placed socialist candidate Francesca Hong ahead in polling for the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary, a race she ultimately lost.

Democratic strategist Mike Nellis condemned the operators behind the data, telling Fox News, “These people are absolute dirtbags.”

Median Strategies and SoCal Strategies Compound the Scandal

The Wedgewood disclosures followed a similar admission in August by a group called Median Strategies, which also acknowledged fabricating poll results as a short-term social experiment. The Los Angeles Times and the Guardian reported that mastermind Rahil Prakash admitted the stunt was designed to test the ease of spreading fake data.

Regulatory Warnings and the Threat of Artificial Intelligence

Federal officials and research bodies point to artificial intelligence as a driving force behind the proliferation of deceptive polling. Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, warned of a clear rise in fake and “suppression polls” designed to alter election outcomes, urging media outlets to halt their distribution.

The American Association for Public Opinion Research cautioned that automated tools lower the barrier for creating fraudulent data, threatening public trust in legitimate survey methods.