I don't care what anyone thinks. It is possible to stop doing business with Comcast. It is even possible to not do business with Comcast at all (I never have). You can choose which communication company to deal with. You can't choose what gets put in the voting booth.

True, Diebold sucked for the voting machine fiasco, but I see a lot of Diebold ATM's in the towns around where I live and I've never had any problems with them. Comcast, on the other hand, has never had any redeeming value as far as I'm concerned. They're a monopoly, they know it, and they act like pretty much everybody expects one to behave. The ONLY reason I'm a customer of theirs is that they're the only option in the condo where I currently live. One of these days I'll have to get off my lazy backside and move so I don't have to deal with them any more.

While diebold does suck, I'm haven't seen that they are intentionally evil, just more so incompetent. Comcast on the other hand, makes Microsoft look like the peace corps.

Obligatory "Diebold sent us to teh IRAK!" comment, saving many the trouble of verbose logical progressions.

@speedwell: Voting is going to be done electronically by a private contract either way.

My vote is for comcast. Because they have been proven to control their service, especially in regard to bittorrents. I'm not a comcast customer, but, I like to see them fail, so other companies don't start incorporating their ideas.

Diebold winning, means nothing. Nothing changes.

@IphtashuFitz: Well, the main problem with Diebold machines is a hidden problem, not something you would notice. That's the whole point of why it's a problem.

That being said, Comcast is horrible. This is a tough decision for me, but I think that for this year, Comcast may deserve this the most.

Yes! Comcast is winning! I called it! We didn't care that Menu Foods was killing living beings and lying about it because Comcast was disrupting our internet. We still didn't care if Big Oil was messing with our fuel prices.
Who's going to stop them now?

I said most Americans don't vote, and so what if Diebold's infringing on that duty? Comcast is messing with our bittorrent!!!!

Comcast is like a vampire - it can't get into your home unless you invite it. Diebold, on the other hand, is gonna be the Captain Tripps virus, spreading across the country with only small pockets of immunity if we're not vigilant.

Comcast all the way. And in response to speedwell: I don't have a choice. Until Verizon gets FiOS TV to my house, I'm stuck with Comcast (or like 2 channels on my rabbit ears). Yes, I don't have to watch TV, but then again, I guess I don't have to vote, either. Diebold has more competition than Comcast does, at least where I live :(

@Bladefist: Voting really should not be done via direct recording electronic machines anytime soon. The security is just not there yet (remember, this is harder than securing a normal computer: it needs to be secure against both normal users and election insiders, and it needs to be secure and auditible, yet anonymous). Now, if they would just make the machines print out the voters' choice onto a paper ballot that they could review before depositing it in a ballot box, that might be better. Then voting machines might actually increase the accessibility and accuracy of elections. But as it is, we would be better off without commercial products like those Diebold makes.

@johnva: I agree. But be both know that's not going to happen.

Diebold. I can't even believe it's a debate.

1. OH NOES! MY CABLE SUX0RZ!
12. OH NOES! MY VOTE FOR THE PRESIDENT WASN'T COUNTED!

...yeah.

@aphex242: Show me proof that happened once and I will vote for Diebold, otherwise it is nothing more than a conspiracy theory.

What the hell?! I voted for Diebold, but it changed my vote!

I say we give it to Comcast this year and leave Diebold until next year when they've completely fucked up this election.

This is from a 2003 NY Times article:

"IN mid-August, Walden W. O'Dell, the chief executive of Diebold Inc., sat down at his computer to compose a letter inviting 100 wealthy and politically inclined friends to a Republican Party fund-raiser, to be held at his home in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. ''I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year,'' wrote Mr. O'Dell, whose company is based in Canton, Ohio."

Has anything changed wrt electronic voting? Isn't it odd that Computer Scientists CONSISTENTLY criticize its use in politics when they should be technologies greatest champions?

Comcast sucks for a lot of people but they don't control the fate of our political future like Diebold. Besides, Diebold already released the results of the election:

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

It's sucktastic! Comcast all the way. I don't know if they are going to win this whole thing but they deserve this bracket.

technolgogy's even...

@APFPilot: Unfortunately you can't prove or disprove it because Diebold doesn't leave a paper trail.

argh! "technology's"

CRAPTASTIC FOR THE WIN!!!!

@sleze69: Unlike the local officials who make decisions on what voting machines to use in our country, and do so mainly based on "input" from sales people, computer scientists have a good grasp of how fallible computer security can be. In this case, knowing more about the tool means knowing when it's the wrong tool for a job.

What aphex242 said.

How is this even a contest?

Comcast blows, but Diebold makes it possible for companies like Comcast (and AT&T, and Countrywide, and Wal*Mart) to exist and perpetuate themselves by corrupting elections. Diebold, no contest.

@speedwell: Yea you can, all you need is a ton of lobbyists, a politically connected friend, and your own voting machine company to get a contract.

Oh wait, wouldn't they have to vote on that lol.

Diebold, without a doubt!

The proof is in the second video from the documentary

"Hacking Democracy"

Your vote counts? Are the electorates using Diebold too? Hmm...

I voted comcast... For everyone that says you have a choice, if you want cable tv/internet, in most places you don't have a choice. Though I agree that Diebold has a more profound impact, for presidential elections, your vote doesn't elect a president, it just goes to the electoral college who sits and goes "hmm, this one."

The irony of voting for comcast over a company that screws up voting results is probalby lost on 99% of consumerist readers who dont' care if an election is ruined as long as comcast can be blamed for bad CS.

And then ultimate irony... after diebold ruins the next election, people will be complaining that they had trouble watching it on CNN because of some comcast screw up (instead of actually being upset that diebold dirty and underhanded.)

I voted for Diebold, and in the spirit of Diebold, I voted with all my computers, and with all of the computers at work, and then hacked Consumerist and assigned half of Comcast's votes to Diebold.

while comcast is indeed a vile, despicable corporation, they tend to eat away at society by screwing customers who voluntarily sign up for their services, one household at a time. diebold on the other hand, has bribed their way into lucrative state contracts with their easily-hacked voting systems so that democracy-jacking can happen unabated, but fortunately, due to the vigilance of democracy defenders, this assault on the very fabric upon which our great nation was founded, this did not go undetected.

comcast sucks... ALOT, but we can choose to go with satellite (of which there is two choices), or in some instances a cable overbuilder or ILEC tv services... or be rabbit-ear rebels.

diebold, on the other hand forces their heinous brand of nefariousness upon a somewhat unsuspecting public... this is far, far more sinister IMHO.

and another thing... if comcast wins here, i say we sack consumerist for using diebold voting systems for this poll. :P

THANK GOD WE'RE A MONOPOLY!

Wow a bunch of people that don't care about fair and open elections. Shame on you traitors.

@consumersaur: Well played, sir.

the only reason that I still use COMCAST is that, I've been paying roughly 30/a month for my internetz for the last 4 years now. YES they have been totally crappy to me since they took over T.W. here in the Houston area last summer, but in a few months I'm moving to where FIOS is readily available. So I guess the point is moot. Also, I have this really special tool that gets around the collar locks on the pole, thus removing any filters on my line. So 30 bucks for Basic analog/Standard HD channels and the internetz is not that bad of a deal. So I guess my vote went to Diebold. 'Cause I can screw over comcast , but diebold screwed me over with paperless tracking...

Whoa... Consumerist just fucked me on this one... And here I was hoping this would be the final. Oh well...

I know my priorities. Comcast is bad and all and I'm not one to shy away from bashing them with amazing regularity, however, I know a piss poor company when I see it. Especially when the future of a country rides on that company.

@everclear75: Wait, what?

@Papa Midnight: And after voting, I think the current standings show 682 persons need to check their priorities... though that's just my opinion.

@darkjedi26: Read Greg Palast's "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." You'll think differently about Diebold after that. When Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc., said in 2004 he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year," well, you've moved beyond incompetence into maleficence.

I voted for Comcast. This is the *2008* Worst Company in America voting, and whole Diebold has been very evil in the past, there's not much evidence that their crappy voting machines have been a problem recently. Mostly because governments have been decertifying them. And their ATM machines are just fine. For this year, Comcast is worse.

Tough call, both companies are awful. But Diebold's awfulness has a much greater effect (screwing up elections) than Comcast's awfulness does (pissed off customers). I wouldn't mind seeing either one of these companies take the top prize, though.

@CharlieInSeattle: Ok, anyone who doesn't believe your little conspiracy theory is a traitor. Got it.

Did you know that you can change the method of voting in your precinct if you care enough about it to do something? Where I live, the voters are smart enough to require paper ballots. You have more choice over the method of voting than you do over your cable company in most places. Voted Comcast.

i cant even choose who to pick in this match up... i hate both... cant we just give em both the silver turd award? (is there even one?)

yeah comcast sucks but if you're looking at impact, diebold fucked up pretty bad.

Voted Comcast because you can demand a paper ballot and they are required to provide one, hanging chads and all!

voted comcast because there's really no proof that diebold did anything malicious outside of just conspiracy theories.

Evan, there might not be proof that they did it intentionally but the machines can be hacked. That is enough reason
aront, you can't demand a paper ballot in all states and what good does it do if only a handful of people do ask for a paper ballot, the rest can still be manipulated!

Would you stick thousands of dollars in cash in an improperly secured machine and leave it unattended? I didn't think so. This is the business that made Diebold a household name - rock-solid, secure ATM machines that are so ubiquitous as to be perfectly fine sitting in any neighborhood Gas-n-Go. This is why they got the job of creating the next-generation voting machines. Given that the act of voting is a pretty straightforward affair, you'd think Diebold would apply decades of highly-evolved computer security technology and make the best damn voting machines the world has ever seen. You'd be wrong.

Voting is also far more critical to the functioning of our 'free' society than watching television or playing MMORPGs, which is what Comcast apparently does so badly. I've never done business with Comcast, but I did once do business with one of its counterparts (I can't really call them 'competitors'), Time/Warner Cable, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that a company that could manage to suck worse than Time/Warner Cable would have at least approached the absolute pinnacle of suck.

Still, my vote is for Diebold, not only because of the relative impact of their sucking, but because although they were perfectly capable of producing a good system, they failed utterly. Because they were otherwise competent, it gives credence to the idea that they created their craptastic system on purpose, as does the statement of its former(?) CEO that he was committed to delivering Ohio to George W. Bush in 2004. Now several states are sitting on a bunch of very expensive machines they can no longer use due to public outcry and legislative action.

Comcast just doesn't measure up to that.

Dish/Telecom flunkies will ensure Comcast loses. The ballot box stuffing is rampant IMHO, based on prior voting (see i.e. the AAA vote with the big swing at the end).

That's not why I am posting, I have resigned myself that. Rather, I came for the ranting GOP fanboi's attempts to Jedi Mind Trick away the Diebold disaster. It was 100% pure unintentional comedy gold. Thanks!