For each merit that a candidate awards in the thread, he will have one vote removed from his total count. So if you get 20 votes for a certain category, but your rewarded people with 10 merits altogether, 10 of your votes would be disqualified. Ultimately, your final count is 10 votes.
I think that it should not be
generalized like this, because it can be seen as unfair by some (and please don't think that I care at all how many votes I will have at the end).
I will give my example: I've voted 2 voters I liked their list/post and I was very careful to not vote posts that mentioned me.
So, as usual, generalizing is bad because it may not take everything into account correctly.
On the other hand, I agree with
No matter what the intent, retroactively changing the rules threatens the integrity not just of this contest, but all future contests as well.
The fact (I agree with) that some merited people to snatch more votes should be at best punished by theymos reconsidering whether they are indeed fit to be merit source.
And you, @icopress will have to remember this and set better rules next year.
But right now I don't think that you should do more.