Overview
- Investigators who received a tip in mid-October obtained raw files and say forensic checks on Oct. 19–20 showed respondent and transaction ID patterns that do not match expected Pollfish behavior, leading them to conclude the data were fabricated.
- Wedgewood Polls posted a statement Tuesday saying most of its releases were made up as an experiment and that a single Nebraska survey was real.
- FiftyPlusOne and other analysts published detailed critiques that traced technical anomalies in Wedgewood’s files to the Pollfish platform and said the firm only disclosed its ‘experiment’ after investigators prepared to publish their findings.
- Wedgewood’s fabricated numbers were picked up by poll aggregators and cited in media coverage, and analysts say those releases influenced campaign decisions, including donations and volunteer morale that helped drive Mallory McMorrow’s July 5 withdrawal from the Michigan Democratic Senate primary.
- Experts warn this episode is part of a wider trend where off-the-shelf tools and lax vetting let low-quality or fake polls enter the political ecosystem and urge immediate reforms such as required raw-data disclosure, platform-level verification, and tighter aggregator standards.