Fake polls expose vulnerabilities in US elections ahead of midterms
Summary
Two firms, Wedgewood Polls and Median Strategies, admitted fabricating political polling during the 2026 U.S. election cycle. Wedgewood’s fake results appeared in polling trackers and received attention from media and political groups, exposing gaps in how pollsters and aggregators verify survey data.Key Facts
- Wedgewood Polls said its fabricated surveys were an experiment meant to test vulnerabilities in the U.S. polling industry.
- The firm published fake results about competitive races in states including Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Kansas and Maine.
- The New York Times said its polling tracker listed 15 Wedgewood surveys from June to October, then removed them.
- The Times said it had asked Wedgewood about its personnel, methods and funding before listing the surveys.
- The Times said Wedgewood’s results were not included in its presidential approval or national congressional polling averages.
- Polling investigator FiftyPlusOne reported inconsistencies in raw data and technical identifiers linked to survey responses.
- Wedgewood admitted that most of its results were fabricated after the investigation raised suspicions.
- Median Strategies acknowledged in August that it had also faked results, describing the effort as a short-term social experiment.
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