Is it possible to see who upvoted or downvoted a reply?

Question

I'd like to find out whether my reply got downvoted by the same person who upvoted it. As I'm relatively new to ServerFault I'd like to ask the voter to clarify what it is they think I should or should not be doing.

Background: I answered a question at STUN server for windows The answer I provided had already been mentioned in a comment. My answer credited the person who made that comment. I provided an answer (as an answer, not a comment) so that the question could eventually disappear from the list of outstanding questions - thus making it easier to browse unanswered questions. Should I just have contacted the commenter to suggest they themselves re-enter their comment as an answer? Is there a mechanism for this? Whats's the local etiquette for this situation?

Answer 1

You can't find out who upvoted or downvoted your questions/answers - it's just how the system works.

I will note that you can't upvote and downvote - it's one or the other (they can be cancelled though for a short period however).

The answer you refer to has 1 upvote and 1 downvote, making it 0. At 1000 rep, you can see the ratio of up/down votes on a post, but never who voted which way. Downvotes are just a hazard of answering questions - I just accept it and move on. No real harm to me.

In your case, I wouldn't say you were wrong to do what you did - you did credit the author of the comment, and got a question of the "unanswered" list like you said. It was a dumb question anyway - the first Google result for STUN server for Windows brings back the link which was posted.

Answer 2

You will find that at times you may be downvoted for no apparent reason. That happens and is just part of the deal. Unwarranted upvotes happen as well but I doubt any of us would recognise those when they are applied to our own questions or answers.

One reason I can see for making voting anonymous is that it help to cut down on revenge voting. Otherwise, if someone offends you with a downvote that you believe is unwarranted (happens to us all) it would be only too easy to fire off a volley of downvotes against their posts.

Answer 3

No you can't see who voted for your question.

Each person can only vote for either up or down (or no vote at all), not both.

I don't know why you got downvoted, perhaps because the answer was presented by someone else. But you gave them credit and they didn't answer, so I see no reason for the downvote.