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Here is the situation:

  1. Person A asks a question.
  2. Person B answers the question.
  3. Person A downvotes Person B's answer (unjustly, perhaps.)
  4. Person B (or perhaps a third Person C) downvotes Person A's question and posts a comment saying something along the lines of "I will lift my downvote on your question if you lift your downvote on the answer."

Is the taking of votes as hostages in this manner against the rules? If so, what is the appropriate action for Person A to take?

Related: Strange situation with a down voted answer

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  • This is not what votes are for! Person B should not have done anything (except maybe, depending on the situation, flag the question). If someone is blatantly abusing the voting system they'll eventually get banned.
    – ɥʇǝS
    Commented Apr 24, 2013 at 1:05
  • I will lift my +1 if you don't accept an answer.
    – Cole Tobin
    Commented Apr 24, 2013 at 1:59

1 Answer 1

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7

Voting shenanigans like that should be flagged and a moderator can set everybody straight.

That said, this is why votes are anonymous. Unless Person A has already identified themselves as the downvoter, they can always just say that it wasn't them and there's no way for anyone else to prove otherwise.

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  • 3
    and even if they do say it was them it might not be...
    – hayd
    Commented Apr 24, 2013 at 0:54
  • @hayden or even if they say it was not, if might be. I often do this whenever commenting, whether I down voted, or not. ;)
    – Andrew Barber Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2013 at 1:08

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