It stays in the reward pool and increases the value of all other posts.
All other posts that meet the minimum payout threshold that is.
With the largest percentage boost going to posts that make over 20 steem.
Basically, if you're making less than 20 steem per post, the missing payouts (from below minimum threshold) do not "help" you.
The higher your post payout is (over 20 steem) the bigger piece of the pie you get.
So when people vote with dust, or on old posts (AND DOWNVOTES), the main beneficiaries are the TOP EARNERS.
https://steemitboard.com/ranking/?p=0&s=payouts
Note: steemcleaners is ranked #5
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Ok, so does voting on old posts "spend" any of my "daily allowance"?
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Nice, free upvotes!!
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