It would be a very sad thing if that's what it took to get stories to the front page. Unfortunately it seems that quite a few people have adopted your 'tactic', I always find it a little suspicious when links have been posted literally minutes ago and already have 3-5 upvotes without any comments, especially if they then scroll off the new page without receiving further upvotes.
My guess is that those are simply sockpuppets used for the initial votes. The sad thing is that plenty of times the strategy seems to work.
Sock puppets are bad. I'm not advocating that at all.
What I'm saying is that the OP should take note of some of the people who dig what he's doing here and let them know next time he has a post on HN.
I like voting for good stuff and helping to promote interesting links on HN. When people who's stuff I like post new stories, they let me know, and I'm glad for it.
I'll often browse the new page and upvote stories without leaving comment. My hope is that someone with more knowledge than me can take a look and voice some opinions.
My guess is that those are simply sockpuppets used for the initial votes. The sad thing is that plenty of times the strategy seems to work.