What HN-lore page are you referring to? This[0] one explicitly states:
> Although submissions cannot be downvoted, [...]
[0]: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi...
> Although submissions cannot be downvoted, [...]
[0]: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#flaggi...
Yeah that's the lore page does look like there's no downvoting submissions then and people are just trolling.