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.