Hm. Those monks that do not want to read nodes on the thread won't read them even if there is no "Vote" buttons at all. Why we sacrifice usabilty for trying to enforce people (probably without success) to read replies when they just want to express their opinion on the original topic of a thread?

Next. I have 11 nodelets configured. The usual set of Daily Best, Weekly Best, Chatterbox, CPAN, XP, keyword, voting etc. Is that "too many"? But most of the time the nodelets' column is longer than the content column and I need to pgdn to the "Vote" button. Or ever drag on a scrollbar.

And last. About voting widgets. Most of the monks are nowadays equiped with a mouse and it's equally easy for them to click radio buttons located anywhere on the screen. Think of it, really. You read with eyes from top to bottom. You act with a mouse pointer which is rarely located where you currently look.

I'm all for another "Vote" button at the top of the pages.