You just described a common practice that still happens down here in my region in Brazil.
Back in the Old Republic years, in the early part of the 20th Century, land owners required their workers to vote for either them or their associates under threat of either expropriation or outright death, a practice that survived in a way. We call it "horse halter vote". Guess what, the left wing uses it wonderfully in the poorest parts of the Northeast region of Brazil, where I live, whereas other regions mostly vote for other candidates due to usefulness or shallow promises.