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If a gold badge holder for a tag votes to close a question normally, and then later discovers a duplicate of it, can they be allowed to "cast a second close vote" as a duplicate? In the "You have already voted to close this question" dialog, could the "Duplicate" option not be disabled?

For the tags I follow, I tend to read through the questions in reverse chronological order until I start hitting questions I remember already reading. So it can happen that I encounter a question that's missing key details, and I vote to close it; but then find later in the question list that they've actually reasked a question identical to one that got closed. My close vote on the new question isn't wrong, but the dupehammer would probably be more correct and more efficient.

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    I think it would be reasonable to allow people to change their close vote to "duplicate". However, I'm not sure that is really worth the effort that it would require in terms of changes to the way the system is implemented, dealing with the edge cases, etc. Why not just leave a comment pointing to the canonical question (i.e., dupe target)? If it's a case where the same user has re-asked the same question, a mod flag is preferable to a duplicate vote anyway.
    – Cody Gray - on strike Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 12:44
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    @CodyGray, "If it's a case where the same user has re-asked the same question, a mod flag is preferable to a duplicate vote anyway" Euh...!?, I've tried that path already, but Mod Flags get declined (that "the Community could handle it"), ... and have to wait for 9 or 30 days until the (Duplicate) Threads get roomba'd... #doesntwork
    – chivracq
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 13:28
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    I see no flags in your flagging history that were about an exact duplicate question posted by the same user that have been declined, @chivracq. I suppose you're referring to the flag saying that you wanted a question deleted because it is polluting your tag, which was declined? That question wasn't a duplicate and thus does not have anything to do with what I recommended.
    – Cody Gray - on strike Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 13:31
  • @CodyGray, nope, rather meant the one on this Thread, (but it's not really a "same User re-asked" case actually), then after that, 3 Dupe Flags with "Thanks, we'll look into that!", but nothing ever happens, and they all "aged away"..., before getting the Threads roomba'd 30 days later...
    – chivracq
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 13:46
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    Yeah, it wasn't a duplicate. You objected to the question on the basis that it wasn't actually asking a question. That should be handled via the normal closing mechanism. There were never any duplicate votes/flags raised on that question by anyone. If you mean that other duplicate flags of yours on different questions have aged away, well, yeah, that's a thing that unfortunately happens because we have too many questions that need to be reviewed and not enough reviewers. Again, not relevant to what I said, or what David is proposing.
    – Cody Gray - on strike Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 13:54
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    @CodyGray if we want users to raise a mod flag for duplicates asked by the same user why do we even have a feature allowing us to close them as duplicates even if unanswered? Ideally given that the system is able to allow for casting such duplicate close votes (and hence detect these) if moderator attention is needed the system should be able to handle bringing them to attention itself.
    – Abdul Aziz Barkat
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 13:54
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    That's an entirely different feature request, @Abdul. :-) Generally, it's reasonable to raise a custom moderator flag on a post if you think there's something there that merits moderator attention. If that flag is, "This is the second question asked by this user today. Please reach out to the user and ask them to stop re-asking the same question multiple times."... that's extremely unlikely to ever get declined. Whether a flag should be automatically raised by the system if a user asks multiple questions within a certain period of time that get closed as duplicates... well, I'd support that.
    – Cody Gray - on strike Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 13:56
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    Here is a case I come against often: I vote to close because there are details missing. The information added before it gets closed, reveals it as a clear duplicate. Yet, I cannot change my vote
    – VLAZ
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 14:30
  • @CodyGray, (sorry to keep "polluting" this one), then that means a Mod Flag on this Thread would have been accepted... Nearly strange that none of the many High-Rep Users who saw it thought to raise a Mod Flag, and that even a(nother) Mod who saw the Pair chose to edit the exact Dupe instead of deleting it directly (would have saved 7 Downvotes to the Asker)...
    – chivracq
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 14:36
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    @chivracq If the same user has posted a duplicate of their question, you should vote to close as a duplicate. If they have posted more than one such duplicate, then you should also raise an "in need of moderator intervention" flag and explain that the user is posting duplicate questions. Raising such a flag after a single such duplicate question may or may not be considered "helpful" by the moderator handling the flag, as that can primarily be handled by just closing the question as a duplicate and, perhaps, leaving a comment explaining that they should edit their original.
    – Makyen Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 16:32
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    The general advice that's been given in the past is that users should not raise a mod flag for a single duplicate question by the same user (i.e. just vote to close it). If the duplicate is posted by a different user where it appears the person is using more than one account to post the same (or similar enough to be a duplicate) question(s), then an "in need of moderator intervention" should be raised, as using multiple accounts in that way isn't permitted and normal users can't vote to close using a duplicate-target question which doesn't have an upvoted or accepted answer.
    – Makyen Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 16:32
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    As to this feature request, I'd much rather see a general ability for all users to be able to retract a close vote and re-cast it with the same effective voting date as the original close vote (as might be desired as the question is edited multiple times). Alternately, the general ability to change the close vote to a different reason (while substantially better than what we have now, this would not be as generally useful). In other words, I'd prefer there be a general capability for all close voters, rather than one that's specific to gold badge holders and changing to a duplicate closure.
    – Makyen Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 16:39
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    My general understanding has been that a mod flag is only appropriate for things ordinary users couldn't do on their own, or if there's a pattern of incorrect site usage. So one user once re-asks a question, normal closing as a duplicate is the correct course of action, but if they do it a third time or under a different account, then raise a flag.
    – David Maze
    Commented Jan 22, 2023 at 17:48
  • @Makyen thanks for the clarification about flagging vs closing same-user dupes. I would have been quite puzzled otherwise.
    – Karl Knechtel
    Commented Jan 27, 2023 at 11:38

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