[andyferris]

I remember originally registering in order to upvote, not to comment or submit. I'm not sure how common that is but it is a much less scary way to begin to contribute.

[sejje]

You can't vote until you have 500 karma

[MrDOS]

You can't downvote until you have 500 karma. You can upvote posts and comments right out of the gate, AFAIK.

[mediumsmart]

confirmed - I just crossed the 500 line and the downvote triangle appeared below the upvote triangle