We have things called promotional services here or “bid bots” it’s when an author pays for votes.. that was done on the first you linked there.

As far as the system taking things into effect, the system does not just allocate rewards. Individuals or projects that hold Steem power “vote” and based on the amount of stake or Steem power they own, the vote differs.

You might want to start here https://steemit.com/faq.html