Degica has run this contest multiple times. Why don't you trust them to try to handle cheating. If the fact there could be cheating bothers you, don't enter contests with public voting. The contest has over 300 entries odds are you going to be disappointed if you expect to win. Instead you should have fun with the development and you either have a finished game or the start of a game.
Viewing post in Voting Irregularities
Another user here made a post about games that were submitted that were created before the contest started, which got the judges attention and they took action. Just because they have run the contest before doesn't mean they will catch every instance of cheating if it isn't pointed out. "If the fact there could be cheating bothers you," -- Any contest could theoretically be cheated, that's not what bothers me. I just want the assurance of knowing everything possible is being done to crack down on it. If you vote in an election you expect your votes to be protected and measures to be in place to prevent cheating, but you still know and accept it's possible. However, if people told you they didn't care about cheating or weren't going to do anything about cheating you most likely wouldn't participate would you?
Lastly, the defeatist attitude here is sad and probably why most people here will never find success. I raised the concerns because I do believe I can win and I want to compete on an even playing field. My question for all of you is: If you don't have confidence in your work, or aren't willing to fight for the work you've done, why even bother submitting?
The post about games that were created before the contest started gave specific evidence. You haven't listed specific project you feel have problems. Even if you had, you have no evidence. In that case, I think it would be better to message the contest organizers directly to ask to look into them. I'm personally more inclined to wait and see.
Don't resort to attacking people. It's not defeatist attitude to say you won't win. My game is too incomplete. While it has a good framework, I don't think people will see my vision. Others may have played other games and decided those games are better. I submitted my work because I enjoyed the contest and made progress on my game idea. If I win, that would be great but it's not why I submitted.
I said in my original post that I didn't want to call out specific projects because I could be wrong. I even wrote at the end "Look and decide for yourself". I don't have evidence, that wasn't the point of my post. The point is to raise awareness so people here in the community and the judges themselves will carefully look and reason if they believe a submission has fraudulent votes.
I'm glad you could have fun and make progress on your game. But everyone has their own reasons for entering the contest especially when there's large cash prizes on the line. You basically attacked me by saying my concerns were invalid/pointless because the chances of me winning are low and I should just have "fun". If we're going to participate in this contest, we should all be concerned about whether or not things are running appropriately.
But no one can look for themselves. The only ones who can look at the information is itch.io and maybe the contest organizers.
I'm sorry if you feel my post attacked you by saying your concerns aren't valid. It wasn't my intent although in reading it again I could see how it might be construed that way.