No the php file controls the sort and I dont see what I posted why it would not work for you.
Here is what is in the showgallery.php file
Code:
Content visible to verified customers only.
Now automaticallly it is already set to sort most popular and the code I gave simply also adds a protectional conditional saying if takevotes is 2 then sort is most popular.
Thus if voting has ended your sort is hard coded to most popular.