An Arabic numeral followed by a period is the correct way to enumerate a list according to the APA. It's kind of annoying to re-enumerate a list as you're compiling it. In order to "automate" re-enumeration, the markup system Voat uses assumes that whenever you have "#.", it means you are making a list. Try this (using the "code" feature designed by three tildes):
1. hello
hello
2. howdy
howdy
3. hiya
hiya
[–] grodius ago
interesting, thanks