Over the past 100 years, in the midst of all the wonders of progress, there grew a thing called hype. Hype swirls and obfuscates, both hiding the truth and creating the lie. It can be as harmless as the latest pop star saturation, and as insidious as a two-faced government official. In recognition of this phenomenon, TIME.com has built a list, based on nominations from its web users, of individuals who are candidates for the title of the century's worst scammer, con artist, media manipulator, grifter, liar or charlatan.

This list originally included a number of religious leaders. But we are convinced by protests from offended supporters that their inclusion, no matter how well justified in some cases by their behavior, might well stimulate an attitude of contempt for others' religious beliefs.

The Phonies and Frauds of the Century poll is now closed. The ranking below reflects the status of nominees as of January 19, 2000, the last day of voting.

# Person % Tally 1 J.R. Bob Dobbs 20.27 43635 2 Geraldo Rivera 15.72 33840 3 O.J. Simpson 11.16 24045 4 Rush Limbaugh 10.17 21900 5 Linda Tripp 6.08 13102 6 Kenneth Starr 4.94 10639 7 Laura Schlessinger 3.87 8343 8 Howard Stern 3.41 7355 9 Joseph R. McCarthy 2.58 5568 10 Jerry Springer 2.34 5055 11 Oliver North 2.30 4970 12 Bill Gates 2.17 4682 13 Madonna 1.94 4180 14 Don King 1.63 3520 15 J. Edgar Hoover 1.56 3361 16 Marlboro Man 1.45 3133 17 Marion S. Barry 1.35 2918 18 Johnnie Cochran 1.27 2738 19 Alfred Kinsey 0.93 2011 20 Uri Geller 0.71 1530 >> Don't like this list? Talk about it on the TIME 100 bulletin boards

NOTE: This is an unscientific, informal survey for the interest and enjoyment of TIME.com users, and may not be indicative of popular opinion. Results updated every few seconds. Computer-generated votes will be removed without notice.