Not really. Ditto was already in second at the first week, when the discussion was if we should support Ditto, Lugia, Ho-oh or Shroomish/Breloom. All the cheating and spamming frenzy started after Arceus showed up in 1st and Ditto in 2nd. So, Ditto had a real chance even without the supposed cheating.
People were actually spamming multiple votes for Ditto from the start. Considering the rules of the poll stated that you were only allowed one vote, the cheating for Ditto was actually going on since the start.