I don't think anyone was arguing that you should be punished for wanting something.
> I find the notion of supporting this level of harm to others to be no more moral if you vote for it than if you commit a violent crime.
I likewise find it pretty ridiculous to equate voting for retributive punishment for murder and actual murder.
Personally, I find it ridiculous to differentiate between murdering a person for e.g. money, and murdering a person for vengeance, and absent an imminent threat for which deadly force is generally authorized, I don't support the use of it.