No one should feel like there’s a “deterrent” to voting.

. . . It is a very bad idea to deter people from voting

You misread. What I wrote:

deterrent against weaponizing downvotes

Voting and weaponizing downvotes are two very different things.

To be clear, I used the phrase "weaponizing downvotes" to paraphrase the intent behind the written policy I quoted in full. Here it is again:

Do not engage in content manipulation such as posting spam content, vote manipulation through using several user accounts or consistently down-voting a user. Vote for the content, not for the person.

Seems like you have a problem with the policy then, because it is requiring you to self-regulate your own voting, and to specifically NOT vote as you please, but in a way that is best for the community as a whole.