We called that vote selling, and we hardforked to stop it, except for the way they've done it since.

Before it was straight cash across the barrel head, pay once and get a vote, but now it is done less commercially.
Selling wholesale has replaced per vote selling, and a blind eye has been turned to it, because tptb want things this way.

Splinterlands still sells votes, and has all along.

Vote selling is bad because it disadvantages all of those that don't do it, too.
It's like curation gangs, the people providing the infrastructure make most of the money and everybody else, member or not, pays that cost.

Just one more of the many reasons that the price is in pit and our ranking has dropped from #3 to #412.
Tptb don't deny it, they just force it onto us, and there is nothing we can do but buy more hive and bide our time.