County voting machines pass accuracy test

If you were planning not to vote this fall because the government might be trying to mess with you through those eSlate machines, well, find another excuse: Harris County's voting machines have passed a state-mandated accuracy test, which means they should record your vote properly. We can't guarantee they won't steal your soul, but hey, that's a chance you take anytime you use electronics.

County clerk's office employees put 2,400 fake votes into eSlate machines and the county's absentee vote tabulator last week, and all the votes registered correctly, county clerk spokesman David Beirne and Democratic Party observer John Behrman said. The test was conducted under new rules from the secretary of state, which called for more fake votes to be cast; in the test, every candidate had to be voted for, there had to be a "yes" and "no" vote in every referendum or bond proposal and straight-party and "undervoting" was also tested. There was no word on how many testers were able to spell Shelley Sekula Gibbs in fake write-in votes.

If you haven't early voted yet, here's what you need to know and here's a voters guide. Now go!