Stack Overflow crawls through its database once a day and removes serial downvotes from butthurt posters trying to seek petty revenge. It's very easy to automate the detection of this behavior. They also remove serial upvoting, as it is not deserved either (i.e., it isn't based on the merit of the posts). I wouldn't be surprised if it sent the offenders an automated warning message to stop.
But Stack Overflow's entire economy is based on reputation, with lots of perks added based on your reputation votes. Without reputation, Stack Overflow collapses.
Here it's very different. Here the little likes/dislikes are minor: content is everything. The like system is a minor social feedback loop: votes let the poster know your feelings, and can draw other people's attention to a thread (as each thread shows the modal vote type and number). People doing serial voting should grow up, but the victims: don't worry it really isn't a big deal.
Feel free to publicly call the offending party out, public shame is often a good corrective for trolls.
I like the system, as it allows lurkers to express their opinion without having to post and get sucked in. So I disagree with those saying people should post
why they downvoted something. I also think we shouldn't do away with the system, because it is a cute helpful little parallel/underground communication stream.
Could always do what facebook does, and only have positive votes: like/agree/useful/winner. That's what the Colts have on their message board.
Oh, and banners. Lots of banners.
This week, after our first loss in a while, people have definitely been acting weird here more than usual. The chicken littles at one extreme, but much more prevalent are the opposite: those acting like we have already won the Super Bowl and are offended at the suggestion that we legitimately lost to the Broncos. And then we have Quantum Mechanic in some superposition of states that is pretty much incomprehensible.
When the most sane poster on your forum is Off the Grid, you are in deep ****.