FiftyPlusOne claimed the confession was an attempt to save face after the outlet contacted Wedgewood for comment regarding a planned investigative report. The firm described the fraud as part of an "experimental project" in a press statement issued Oct 20. This follows the widespread adoption of Wedgewood's data across several of the most prominent political aggregators in the United States.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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Wedgewood Polling Admits Fabricating Data Used by New York Times and Nate Silver
US Politics4 hours ago
A firm with no professional history or credentials invented its research results to see if they would be accepted by major media institutions, Wedgewood Polling revealed. The company admitted that the vast majority of its releases contained fabricated numbers, which were nonetheless integrated into tracking sites like VoteHub and FiftyPlusOne, as well as platforms run by Nate Silver and The New York Times. National outlets including MS NOW also cited the faked results in on-air reports and written articles.
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