Of course, none of this can happen before SMTs are ready for prime time.
There's no way to separate a self-vote from a regular vote. People can make multiple accounts and end up with the same result. Agreed on the creator:curator split, but it's another bandaid at best.
Sometimes though a bandaid is all you need to fix a cut. I'm not sure we are at the point where surgery is needed to fix the problem, but there is definitely a cut that needs immediate attention. I think maybe focusing on good rather trying to stop the bad is one way to look at it. If those who curate are receiving sufficient rewards for their effort I think the snowball effect will take over just like the slef-voting epidemic has done ths far.