It's actually not a terrible idea. And of all the Digg rip-offs I've come across, at least this one serves a somewhat unique purpose and seems to have (even if it's minimally fleshed out) a marketing plan.
With that said, I think I'd hardcode a $vote = $vote + 20; in there somewhere to kick things off.
Oh, I don't know if its on purpose, but the line from the big text links crosses over the digg boxes and looks kind of goofy.