Fake Polling Firm Wedgewood Admits Fabricating Data Ahead of US Elections
A fake polling firm called Wedgewood Polls admitted to publishing fabricated data that impacted US political campaigns and media aggregators, later claiming it was an experiment.
A fake polling firm named Wedgewood Polls has admitted to fabricating data that influenced political campaigns and media aggregators ahead of US elections. The company published more than a dozen fraudulent polls that were integrated into major aggregators, including The New York Times and FiftyPlusOne. Wedgewood later shut down its operations and claimed the stunt was an experiment to test media gullibility.
Impact on Primaries and Campaigns
One of the primary victims was Mallory McMorrow, who ran in the Democratic primaries in Michigan. Initially leading the race, McMorrow withdrew after a Wedgewood poll showed her support plunging to single digits against rivals Abdelbaset El-Sayed and Haley Stevens. The fabricated numbers cut off donor funding and devastated campaign morale. Democratic strategist Jennifer Holdsworth noted that donors used the poll to justify pulling financial support during a critical period.
The fraudulent polling also impacted races in Wisconsin and Mississippi. In Wisconsin, Wedgewood published a survey showing democratic-socialist candidate Francesca Hong leading the gubernatorial primary. In Mississippi, another fake poll depicted the Senate race as competitive, prompting the Democratic Party to channel funds into the state and leading candidate Scott Cullum to claim massive momentum.
Investigation and Exposure
Suspicion first arose when analysts at FiftyPlusOne requested raw data and commissioned their own poll in Mississippi, discovering that Wedgewood's sample did not represent the electorate. J. Elliot Morris of FiftyPlusOne told Time magazine that the firm operated as a seemingly legitimate polling outfit using crowdfunding before distributing the fabricated results. Following the exposure, Wedgewood deleted its social media accounts and claimed the project was never intended to permanently mislead the public.
