# Fake Polls Expose Survey Trust Gaps

> Wedgewood Polls admitted nearly all its surveys were fake, highlighting trust issues in political polling.
- Title: Fake Polls Expose Survey Trust Gaps · The Boston Globe
- Summary: Wedgewood Polls admitted nearly all its surveys were fake, highlighting trust issues in political polling.
- Keywords: wedgewood polls, fake polls, political polling, survey trust, midterm races, polling aggregators, new york times, news, local, Fake, Polls, Expose
- Source: The Boston Globe — https://bostonglobe.com/2026/10/21/nation/fake-poll-trust-surveys
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: wedgewood polls, fake polls, political polling, survey trust, midterm races, polling aggregators, new york times, news, local
## Wedgewood Polls Admits Fake Surveys
Wedgewood Polls admitted nearly all its surveys were fake, an 'experimental project' they claimed.

> The whole thing, Wedgewood claimed, was an "experimental project."
## Times Removed Fake Polls
The New York Times removed 15 Wedgewood polls after verifying the firm's identity and methods.

> The Times removed those polls Tuesday night and published an editors’ note that said it had included the Wedgewood polls, 15 in all, after the pollster answered a series of detailed questions from the Times about the pollsters’ identities, methods and funding.
## Second Fake Poll Incident This Year
This was the second time fake polls became news this year, highlighting risks in political polling.

> It was the second time this year that fake polls have become news in the political world, underscoring the risks of misleading or false polling in an era of little-known data firms, hard-to-reach voters and suddenly ubiquitous prediction markets.
## Campaigns Suffered Real Impact
Mallory McMorrow's campaign collapsed after a fake poll showed her support in single digits.

> After a Wedgewood poll in June showed her support in the single digits, Mallory McMorrow, a Michigan state senator who was running in the state’s Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, said donations dried up and her campaign’s volunteers were left bereft.
## False Momentum Claimed
Scott Colom's campaign falsely cited a fake poll to claim 'massive momentum' in Mississippi.

> Last week in Mississippi, the campaign for Scott Colom, the Democratic nominee for Senate, trumpeted a fake finding from Wedgewood in a news release, citing it as evidence of Colom’s "massive momentum."
## Polling System Under Scrutiny
FiftyPlusOne found inconsistencies in Wedgewood's data, confirming the need for better polling oversight.

> FiftyPlusOne, a polling website run by former employees of FiveThirtyEight, wrote Tuesday night that it had reached out to Wedgewood with a request for comment earlier that day.
## Key takeaway

Wedgewood Polls admitted nearly all its surveys were fake, causing campaign setbacks and raising concerns about polling reliability.