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Yesterday I intended to upvote an answer, but accidentally downvoted. I did not notice this and did not change it within the five-minute window for changing votes. Later that day I noticed a drop on 1 in rep and discovered the accident.

I could not change my vote. But since I have editing priveleges, I edited the answer trivially (inserting 3 spaces in its source text) and then I was able to change my vote.

I don't really understand the reason to lock in votes after a certain amount of time in the first place, but I have read that it is to prevent some kind of gaming of the system. If the idea is really to prevent gaming of the system, then I guess I should not be allowed to game the system with my trivial edit either.

Or maybe editing rights should come with the right to change one's votes?

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    $\begingroup$ If someone were gaming the system, they would probably want to do so anonymously, and edits are not anonymous. $\endgroup$
    – Jonas Meyer
    May 24, 2012 at 19:14
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    $\begingroup$ I've had to do this kind of thing, once, because of a misplaced click on a mobile phone! It seems like a reasonable workaround for what is such an infrequent occurrence. $\endgroup$
    – hardmath
    Jun 3, 2012 at 23:04
  • $\begingroup$ @hardmath that works only if you have editing priveleges, which require about 4x as much reputation as I have. Recently I made a pocket-dialed downvote and had to run to the community for help. $\endgroup$
    – Oscar Lanzi
    Mar 22, 2016 at 1:33
  • $\begingroup$ @OscarLanzi: Okay, but this 3+ year old Question was about changing votes when you do have editing privileges. If you don't, then your best chance is to discover voting errors within the five-minute window mentioned above. $\endgroup$
    – hardmath
    Mar 22, 2016 at 1:42

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