Civic Affairs & Public Integrity

Public confidence requires public transparency.

The Foundation's civic work focuses on information citizens need to evaluate public institutions, elections, public claims, and the processes that shape confidence in government.

Current review · October 2026

Rhode Island Polling Transparency Review

Pell Center / Embold Research — October 5–8, 2026

Embold Research reports surveying 815 likely Rhode Island voters. Its methodology statement says 452 respondents were recruited through targeted Facebook, Instagram, and web advertising and 363 through text messages sent to voter-file telephone numbers.

The statement further says Embold used dynamic online sampling during fielding: lowering advertising budgets for groups it considered overrepresented, raising budgets for groups it considered underrepresented, and texting underrepresented groups as needed. The completed sample was then post-stratified by age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, 2024 presidential vote, and region.

The methodology reports a 3.6% modeled margin of error and says its effective sample size accounts for the design effect of weighting.

Source: Embold Research methodology statement, reproduced below in the Documents section.

Information requested

What remains important to disclose

Recruitment & targeting

Exact Meta targeting parameters, audience definitions, advertising expenditures by target group, text-message sampling criteria, and recruitment results by audience.

Day-by-day movement

Responses and unweighted ballot results for October 5, 6, 7, and 8, alongside the demographic groups being targeted and any changes in advertising or text recruitment.

Unweighted data

The original sample composition and ballot results before post-stratification, including party identification and voter-registration composition.

Weighting effects

Numerical weighting targets and coefficients, design effect, effective sample size, and the Attorney General result before and after weighting.

Why transparency matters

Trust is strengthened by information that can be examined.

The Pell name carries exceptional stature in Rhode Island. A poll released under the name of a respected Rhode Island institution can influence voters, campaigns, donors, journalists, and the public understanding of a race. That influence makes methodological transparency especially important.

Two polling operations have acknowledged fabricated election polling during the 2026 election cycle: Median Strategies earlier this year and Wedgewood Polls in October. Those episodes do not establish wrongdoing by legitimate pollsters. They do demonstrate why independent verification, disclosure, and access to underlying methodological information matter.

For years, many Americans have heard or expressed claims that political processes are “rigged.” Whether one agrees with those claims or rejects them, the breadth and intensity of that distrust present a real danger to confidence in established civic institutions. The most constructive answer is not less scrutiny, but more transparency: enough information for citizens of differing political views to examine important public claims for themselves.

Background reporting: Associated Press on Median Strategies · Axios on Wedgewood Polls

Documents & correspondence

Read the underlying material.

Embold Research Methodology StatementOctober 2026 · PDF · local copy Follow-Up Questions Sent to the Pell CenterOctober 23, 2026 · Anne Armstrong · local copy Background Analysis of Embold ResearchPublic-source research on corporate structure, personnel, political relationships, and funding connections · PDF · local Foundation copy Questions or Additional InformationContact the Seat of Wisdom Foundation

Editorial standard: The Foundation distinguishes documented facts, requests for additional information, and conclusions. Publication of a question or concern is not itself an allegation of misconduct.