I think it’s completely valid to vote according to your feelings. That’s how you determine what you find important in those you vote for. Drawings are a form of art and the purpose of art is to invoke specific feelings in the consumer - apparently more people enjoyed the first drawing and voted for it, which is completely valid for a competition for “drawings”; it wasn’t a competition for drawing skills, just the pictures themselves.
What I find much more problematic for democracy is misinformation, especially if deliberate by news outlets, politicians or lobbyists. They know how to manipulate feelings to get what they want.
so, doing something for yourself or people you care about is labour, doing something in exchange for money is prostitution