Sham Polling Firm Admits Fabricating Data as 'Social Experiment'

A purported polling firm, Wedgewood Polls, has admitted to fabricating survey data as a "social experiment" after its practices were exposed by election analysts. The firm confessed that it was "far too easy" to gain credibility with false information, a revelation that has raised concerns about the vetting of data in political reporting.

Wedgewood Polls claimed its motivation was to "expose how little scrutinization exists in media and public commentary" regarding polling methodology. The group stated in a released statement that its "experiment" was not intended to sway elections but rather to serve as a "wake-up call" about the standards for polling data.

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow cited a summer poll from Wedgewood Polls, which indicated her support had dropped to single digits, as a factor in her decision to withdraw from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. McMorrow stated that after the poll's release, donations decreased, campaign volunteers were demoralized, and she faced persistent questions about her campaign's viability.

"Sure, a point was proven," McMorrow said following the revelation. "Polling is broken. But tens of thousands of people poured their hearts, time, energy, hard-earned money into something they believed in — for a year-and-a-half, and it was treated like a game."

Another recent poll from Wedgewood Polls claimed that Mississippi Democratic Senate hopeful Scott Colom was tied with incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. While the Democratic Senate Majority PAC announced an increase in its spending for Colom, a spokesperson for the PAC stated that their financial decisions were not based on external polling data.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr issued a warning to broadcasters, citing the incident as a potential violation of regulations against "News Distortion" and "Broadcast Hoaxes." He emphasized that broadcasters must comply with their public interest obligations.

Wedgewood Polls asserted that it had successfully influenced major polling aggregators, including The New York Times, FiftyPlusOne, and VoteHub. Zachary Donnini, head of data science at VoteHub, recounted an interaction where he was told the head pollster for Wedgewood was a college student.

This incident follows a similar case in August, where Median Strategies admitted to faking surveys as part of a "short-term social experiment" during the Los Angeles mayoral and Wisconsin gubernatorial primaries.