I don't know, most talent contests with public voting have no impact on the voters either. They vote for whoever they liked best, or which act they liked best, or who had the hottest singer, or who shouted "vote me" the loudest.
I think it is relevant to HN because its an interesting article about a company founded by a regular HN member. Asking people to vote at the end of the article seems fairly natural to me.
To ask a large number of outsiders who have otherwise no interest in the vote to come and vote for you to me seems to make the whole thing into a popularity contest, whoever has access to the largest communities will win the vote, regardless of the merit of the various candidates.
I don't think it is 'proper' to use the HN audience as a way to swing a vote one way or the other. But that's just my feeling, and judging by the moderation so far I'm in the minority with that ;).