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It's possible a user meant to upvote and accidentally clicked on the wrong button. But at least based on my own personal experience, it's more likely that the downvote was intentional at the time the user cast it.
I think that's still worth a bronze badge award, even if the user later (or even immediately) reverses her downvote. If it were a silver or gold badge, that would be one thing, but bronze badges are designed to reward basic site usage, for which this case certainly qualifies.
A third possibility exists that the user might just be curious to see what that particular button does (and somehow never noticed it until she gained enough karma to downvote). Even in this case, I would be in favor of rewarding curiosity and exploration.
It's possible a user meant to upvote and accidentally clicked on the wrong button. But at least based on my own personal experience, it's more likely that the downvote was intentional at the time the user cast it.
I think that's still worth a bronze badge award, even if the user later (or even immediately) reverses her downvote. If it were a silver or gold badge, that would be one thing, but bronze badges are designed to reward basic site usage, for which this case certainly qualifies.
A third possibility exists that the user might just be curious to see what that particular button does (and somehow never noticed it until she gained enough karma to downvote). Even in this case, I would be in favor of rewarding curiosity and exploration.