Re: Re: Is There A Palm Beach Butterfly Ballot Problem at Perlmonks?

I think the purpose of a null vote is to allow a user to see what a post's reputation is. One can only see that information if one has already voted concerning the post.

Otherwise seeing a post's reputation might affect the vote for or against that post.That would be sort of a late-polls-closing-in-Northern-Florida problem, but one that is effectively addressed here at perlmonks.org by preserving the null vote option.

Comment on Re: Re: Is There A Palm Beach Butterfly Ballot Problem at Perlmonks?

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Re: Re: Re: Is There A Palm Beach Butterfly Ballot Problem at Perlmonks? by amelinda (Friar) on Feb 07, 2001 at 02:21 UTC
A null vote does not show you the node's reputation. The existence of the null vote, to the best of my knowledge, has more to do with the browser choice of some perlmonks than to do with anything else. It also has that handy feature also mentioned - changing your mind before you hit the 'submit' button.	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: Is There A Palm Beach Butterfly Ballot Problem at Perlmonks? by Fastolfe (Vicar) on Feb 06, 2001 at 04:11 UTC
The null vote does not actually cast a vote, so it doesn't let you see a comment's reputation. Its presence is just so that if you click on ++ or -- and later change your mind, you can "null" the vote out and submit the form (with the rest of your votes) without having to refresh the page to clear your click.	[reply]