Yes. Having contested for the highest student political office on campus at the faculty level (Social Sciences Faculty President) and won, canvasing for votes isn't much of a problem to me.
And I think for your contest, the votes weren't considered. Or maybe I lost out in some other rules or criteria.
The Top5 is decided based on the votes and the judge picks the winner from the Top5.
But of course the contest as a whole is not purely based on votes, it would completely remove the need for quality comments. I know it is still not perfect as even 5 people can hunt for easy votes, but it is also a fun element.
For this reason I added the 2nd prize, which can be awarded to any comment, purely based on quality.