"The vendors are driving the process of voting technology in the United States," he says moments after his own equipment is gamed before his very eyes. "I would much rather, at this point, focus on allowing citizens to select technology that satisfies their needs."

Alas, too many never got the chance. Even after the Hursti hack was known, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the site of so much trouble in 2004, spent $20 million on similar machines. Out in California, a team of researchers appointed by Secretary of State Bruce McPherson verified Hursti's findings, spotted an additional 16 vulnerabilities described as "potentially more serious" than the Hursti hack ... and certified the Diebold systems anyway. They are set to be used this Nov. 7 across the Golden State -- or, as Diebold refers to it, "America's largest voting market."

I've got one more reason for you to see this documentary when it airs Thursday: Diebold really, really doesn't want you to. Earlier this week, I an item to my own blog detailing the efforts Diebold is making to pressure HBO not to air this film. However, Diebold representatives are apparently making as big a mess of this effort as they have of their machines -- in fact, they appear to have confused Hacking Democracy with an entirely different film, making demonstrably wrong statements about the film's content and even who created it. HBO has, to its credit, suck to its guns, stating in the Hollywood Reporter that Diebold has apparently confused two different e-voting documentaries, and that in any case the company "stands by [the] film and has no intention of withdrawing the film from its schedule."

I've read the reports. I've seen the hacks with my own eyes. I've broken scores of what were -- or should have been -- earth-shattering, mind-blowing, e-vote-decimating stories. I worked closely with Bobby Kennedy Jr. on his two for Rolling Stone, which blew the lid off the scam. I have come to find that there is nothing -- no scientific evidence, no scientist period, and no anecdotal evidence -- to even indicate that our public democracy has not been hijacked by small group of private, partisan industrialists who are willing to say anything, do anything and lie about anything they need to in order to ensure that our electoral system heads straight toward the all-out train wreck that is surely coming.

Get out and vote this November, America. But be vigilant, be prepared to fight for your democracy this time around, and wish us all luck. We're going to need it as we head toward the train wreck ahead.