The direct links still work fine, votesb only redirects so if he changes the command to direct links it should be fine.
Votesb.com was used to tally votes from vote1 and vote2. They don't count votes from vote2 anymore. They were, for a while, just using the reliable vote1 site. They have decided now just to go with guess work.
Sort of. If the lists weren't checked at the exact right time, players got extra votes in before the site re-set.