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When my vote to close my own question as duplicate was registered as a simple vote, I was a bit surprised, as I thought it'd immediately close for my own given reason, but the question of whether a user should be allowed to force a close-as-duplicate has already been addressed here on Meta.

However, when I later reloaded the page it was much worse:

Screenshot

  • I automatically leave a comment asking myself if something answers my question. Well, of course I think it does, otherwise I wouldn't have voted for that.

  • "The system" picks up my on question and asks it to me again. Well darn, I just told you that it does — take my vote for an answer!

This can't be right!

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What's going on is that when you vote to close your own question, it is not normally* considered a binding vote merely because you are its owner. Instead, the vote is recorded like any other vote.

However, when a non-binding close vote is recorded of the Duplicate type, leaving the question still open, then the owner of that question is presented with a special dialogue visible only to them asking them whether the suggested duplicate solves their problem.

If the owner says Yes, then a binding vote is cast by the Community♦ pseudo-moderator, confirming this as a duplicate.

* If you have a diamond, or it’s a Duplicate vote and you are an eligible gold tag badge holder in one of the question’s tags, then it is still binding but for that reason, not because you are the owner.

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    Hey, who are you calling a “pseudo-moderator”?! You have accurately described the inner workings and logic of the system, of course, but that doesn’t address the leaking abstraction that leads to a UX issue. Aside from that, I still have to question the fundamental logic behind preventing users from single-handedly closing their own questions as unclear or off-topic. I mean, if we manage to convince the asker, good odds that the question deserves to be closed.
    – Cody Gray
    Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 3:40
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    I came here to give this answer, and @tchrist wrote it out better than I could have.
    – Yaakov Ellis StaffMod
    Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 7:14
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    This is not an answer. My problem is not that I can't force closure as duplicate. That has been addressed elsewhere, but rather the very confusing flow. I automatically leave a comment (rhetorically?) asking myself if something answers my question‽ Well, of course I think it does, I just told the system so! And then "the system" picks up my question and asks it to me again. Well darn, I just told you!
    – Adám
    Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 8:19
  • Adám, then I do not understand what your question is. I've explained why it works this way, which SE dev @YaakovEllis confirmed.
    – tchrist
    Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 15:04
  • @tchrist I never asked a question; I reported a UX bug.
    – Adám
    Commented Oct 24, 2020 at 19:45

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