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Alright, here's how it went. I asked a question and voted one of the wrong answers down. Sometime later, when I was on the page again, I clicked the downvote button on accident. It cleared the downvote like it should. I said "Whoops," clicked it again, and was informed that I my vote was too old to be changed when I had, in fact, only just (mis)clicked it a moment ago. Is that how it's supposed to work? I'd think that clearing your vote (or even changing it from down to up or vice-versa) would clear the timestamp on the vote as well.

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  • It is a bug. It has already been posted. Though that other one was for up-voting. Aug 31, 2009 at 23:44
  • Well, maybe mine's different! Probably not, but maybe. Aug 31, 2009 at 23:49

2 Answers 2

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This is by-design. The undo time window starts ticking the second you cast your vote on that particular edit of the post.

Once the undo time window expires, you can't change your vote.

If the post is edited it is again eligible for voting, under the same rules.

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  • 3
    Yea, but the undo-window should be longer than just a few seconds. I literally had one that was less than 5 seconds. Sep 1, 2009 at 13:56
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    I get the rationale behind it, but... the usability of undo with these obscure and severe "window rules" sucks.
    – Shog9
    Sep 1, 2009 at 15:57
  • His answer had been edited since my initial vote. I could clear my vote, but couldn't put it back immediately after (ie, within 5 seconds of the un-vote). Sep 1, 2009 at 23:16
  • Jarrett, your mistake is in "clearing". That counts as ANOTHER vote. If you want to switch your vote, switch it. Clear, then re-vote is likely to be blocked. Don't turn 1 step into 2. Sep 2, 2009 at 2:46
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    The clear was unintentional, though; my finger slipped. Also, you said: "The undo time window starts ticking the second you cast your vote on that particular edit of the post." Shouldn't I be able to undo the clear immediately after it? It seems like you can only freely change your vote within the time window the first time you vote; after that, for every edit, you only get one change. Sep 2, 2009 at 2:59
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    I'm not trying to argue, by the way; I'm just trying to understand the logic behind it. My apologies if I'm making you make the same face as your avatar. Sep 2, 2009 at 3:01
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Depends on how long it took for you to register that you had accidentally tried to undo your vote. The warning could have been from the first click but didn't get around to showing you until after your second click.

You can't clear out your vote unless it's within the small window after you first cast. And trying to undo that vote wouldn't reset the time on when you did. Once you vote, that's when it counts.

You can get the vote back if the question or answer has been edited since though.

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