code: def get_rating_for_user(self, user, ip_address=None, cookies={}):
          
          kwargs = dict(
              content_type    = self.get_content_type(),
              object_id       = self.instance.pk,
              key             = self.field.key,
          )
  
          if not (user and user.is_authenticated()):
              if not ip_address:
                  raise ValueError('``user`` or ``ip_address`` must be present.')
              kwargs['user__isnull'] = True
              kwargs['ip_address'] = ip_address
          else:
              kwargs['user'] = user
          
          use_cookies = (self.field.allow_anonymous and self.field.use_cookies)
          if use_cookies:
              # TODO: move 'vote-%d.%d.%s' to settings or something
              cookie_name = 'vote-%d.%d.%s' % (kwargs['content_type'].pk, kwargs['object_id'], kwargs['key'][:6],) # -> md5_hexdigest?
              cookie = cookies.get(cookie_name)
              if cookie:    
                  kwargs['cookie'] = cookie
              else:
                  kwargs['cookie__isnull'] = True
              
          try:
              rating = Vote.objects.get(**kwargs)
              return rating.score
          except Vote.MultipleObjectsReturned:
              pass
          except Vote.DoesNotExist:
              pass
          return
docs: get_rating_for_user(user, ip_address=None, cookie=None)
          
          Returns the rating for a user or anonymous IP.