I can't recall ever seeing the elimination of downvotes discussed outside of a sundialsvc4-intitated thread and the idea has been soundly rejected by the large majority of respondents in every such thread.

If it's "oft discussed", that's solely because this one poster refuses to let the topic die.

If "there is no consensus"... well... umm... I genuinely can't see any way to interpret reality in which that's the case. There is a strong consensus, as can be seen by reviewing any of the previous threads on the topic.