<p><strong>Reputation never drops below 1 and previous downvotes are not accumulated to be applied afterwards.</strong></p>
<p>Please note:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Downvotes help the system</strong> automatically block people who make a habit of posting bad questions or answers.  When a new user is downvoted several times on their first few posts (the exact amounts are not disclosed), temporary blocks are applied to encourage them to improve their existing posts.</p>
</li>
<li><p>However, new users tend to react negatively to downvotes as well as to most forms of moderation, such as closing questions.  <strong>Please try to post a comment welcoming a new contributor</strong> and explaining the reason for the downvote.  (It doesn't hurt to add your comment to any other welcoming comments: the more the better!)</p>
</li>
<li><p>Generally, for the same reasons, <strong>it is good to accompany any downvote with an explanatory comment.</strong>  (One general exception is when you know the poster is a serial violator of site norms and you have already tried, in another thread, to explain your position.  You don't have to keep posting the same explanation only to have it be ignored again!)</p>
</li>
</ul>
