diff --git a/src/app.ts b/src/app.ts
index 2d3945e..098e5f3 100644
--- a/src/app.ts
+++ b/src/app.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import {shadowBanUser} from './routes/shadowBanUser';
 import {getUsername} from './routes/getUsername';
 import {setUsername} from './routes/setUsername';
 import {viewedVideoSponsorTime} from './routes/viewedVideoSponsorTime';
-import {voteOnSponsorTime} from './routes/voteOnSponsorTime';
+import {voteOnSponsorTime, getUserID as voteGetUserID} from './routes/voteOnSponsorTime';
 import {getSkipSegmentsByHash} from './routes/getSkipSegmentsByHash';
 import {postSkipSegments} from './routes/postSkipSegments';
 import {endpoint as getSkipSegments} from './routes/getSkipSegments';
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ function setupRoutes(app: Express) {
     const voteEndpoints: RequestHandler[] = [voteOnSponsorTime];
     const viewEndpoints: RequestHandler[] = [viewedVideoSponsorTime];
     if (config.rateLimit) {
-        if (config.rateLimit.vote) voteEndpoints.unshift(rateLimitMiddleware(config.rateLimit.vote));
+        if (config.rateLimit.vote) voteEndpoints.unshift(rateLimitMiddleware(config.rateLimit.vote, voteGetUserID));
         if (config.rateLimit.view) viewEndpoints.unshift(rateLimitMiddleware(config.rateLimit.view));
     }
 
diff --git a/src/middleware/requestRateLimit.ts b/src/middleware/requestRateLimit.ts
index 8489fd8..807d291 100644
--- a/src/middleware/requestRateLimit.ts
+++ b/src/middleware/requestRateLimit.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ import {getIP} from '../utils/getIP';
 import {getHash} from '../utils/getHash';
 import rateLimit from 'express-rate-limit';
 import {RateLimitConfig} from '../types/config.model';
+import {Request} from 'express';
+import { isUserVIP } from '../utils/isUserVIP';
+import { UserID } from '../types/user.model';
 
-export function rateLimitMiddleware(limitConfig: RateLimitConfig): rateLimit.RateLimit {
+export function rateLimitMiddleware(limitConfig: RateLimitConfig, getUserID?: (req: Request) => UserID): rateLimit.RateLimit {
     return rateLimit({
         windowMs: limitConfig.windowMs,
         max: limitConfig.max,
@@ -13,5 +16,12 @@ export function rateLimitMiddleware(limitConfig: RateLimitConfig): rateLimit.Rat
         keyGenerator: (req) => {
             return getHash(getIP(req), 1);
         },
+        handler: (req, res, next) => {
+            if (getUserID === undefined || !isUserVIP(getHash(getUserID(req)))) {
+                return res.status(limitConfig.statusCode).send(limitConfig.message);
+            } else {
+                return next();
+            }
+        }
     });
 }
diff --git a/src/routes/voteOnSponsorTime.ts b/src/routes/voteOnSponsorTime.ts
index e343ed3..0ea328d 100644
--- a/src/routes/voteOnSponsorTime.ts
+++ b/src/routes/voteOnSponsorTime.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {getFormattedTime} from '../utils/getFormattedTime';
 import {getIP} from '../utils/getIP';
 import {getHash} from '../utils/getHash';
 import {config} from '../config';
+import { UserID } from '../types/user.model';
 
 const voteTypes = {
     normal: 0,
@@ -214,21 +215,25 @@ function categoryVote(UUID: string, userID: string, isVIP: boolean, isOwnSubmiss
     res.sendStatus(200);
 }
 
-async function voteOnSponsorTime(req: Request, res: Response) {
+export function getUserID(req: Request): UserID {
+    return req.query.userID as UserID;
+}
+
+export async function voteOnSponsorTime(req: Request, res: Response) {
     const UUID = req.query.UUID as string;
-    let userID = req.query.userID as string;
+    const paramUserID = getUserID(req);
     let type = req.query.type !== undefined ? parseInt(req.query.type as string) : undefined;
     const category = req.query.category as string;
 
-    if (UUID === undefined || userID === undefined || (type === undefined && category === undefined)) {
+    if (UUID === undefined || paramUserID === undefined || (type === undefined && category === undefined)) {
         //invalid request
         res.sendStatus(400);
         return;
     }
 
     //hash the userID
-    const nonAnonUserID = getHash(userID);
-    userID = getHash(userID + UUID);
+    const nonAnonUserID = getHash(paramUserID);
+    const userID = getHash(paramUserID + UUID);
 
     //x-forwarded-for if this server is behind a proxy
     const ip = getIP(req);
@@ -421,8 +426,4 @@ async function voteOnSponsorTime(req: Request, res: Response) {
 
         res.status(500).json({error: 'Internal error creating segment vote'});
     }
-}
-
-export {
-    voteOnSponsorTime,
-};
+}
\ No newline at end of file