A couple of suggestions on how to deal with the issue:
First, we could get rid of downvotes all-together.  Upvotes would decide the winner, and offensive comments could be reported.
Another option would be a cap on downvotes:  either you get 5-10/day, or you earn 1 for every 10 upvotes.  Something like that. 

Imgur is a predominantly positive place, and I'd like to see it stay that way!

Thanks for your time and consideration.  

p.s.  You have an engaged community who loves this site.  Why not put a couple of ideas forward, each one as an individual picture in a reserved spot at the top of the gallery, and let us vote on them?...  That'd be cool!

In the new multi-picture posts on imgur, if you remove "gallery" from the URL it sometimes goes to a completely different picture. For example, http://imgur.com/gallery/tdTp0 is two gifs of a dad on a swing, but http://imgur.com/tdTp0 goes to some random wrestler. Sometimes the alternate picture is extremely NSFW or NSFL. Also, the mobile phone version of imgur chooses to display the alternate picture no matter what.

Shamelessly linking my story of it: http://imgur.com/gallery/KUq6K. A bit more detailed description, and the comments verify it's not just me experiencing the issue

That type of BS is exactly what sucks about all the other web image services.  This is exactly the reason why imgur had a reason to exist - specifically because it DIDN'T have BS like that!  PLEASE get rid of it!

When I click on an image to see the whole image, if it's too big my browser automatically resizes it so that it takes up the entirety of my browser window.  But with the stupid window-in-webpage image thing I can only ever see a portion of the image at any time!  That's awful.

I have been a huge fan of imgur since day one and I've promoted your site a lot.  Please don't go down the path of ruining your great site with lots of flashy "upgrades".  KEEP IT SIMPLE AND STRAIGHT FORWARD!

I appreciate the site and the work that you do.  Thanks.

I used to love Imgur but it's super lame now that you changed everything. You have to change it.

Recently, a section for highly popular images were added to the home page, as well as top comments. Now, Imgur is my favorite image-sharer of all time, but part of the reason I enjoyed was is the simplicity and tranquility of the uploading process. I could just click on the bookmark, upload an image, get the direct link, and be on my way. I can still do that, but the bombardment of images on the front page along with the uploader now undermines that peaceful, easy feeling. Your slogan is "the simple image sharer," after all.

I know that there are many people who only visit Imgur to browse images, not to upload them. The new home page is most likely a positive addition for those people. But I also know that there are many others like me who don't want to browse and merely want to upload.

My idea, which I propose humbly and respectfully, is this: add an option to opt out of the new front page and go back to the old one, should you so desire. Some people might even like to alternate between the two. Thank you for your time and consideration.