[framp]

You could use a link with a background-image

<style>.vote-42:active{ background-image: url(/api/vote/42) } </style> <a class="vote-42">Vote</a>

[SquareWheel]

I ran a quick test. That actually seems to work, at least in Chrome. Very cool!

https://codepen.io/anon/pen/weMwRz

Realistically, I'd probably never use it because it's so dependent on browser behavior, but still a cool alternative.