diff --git a/install/travis.sh b/install/travis.sh
index 6f9e37c85..08c8a86fb 100755
--- a/install/travis.sh
+++ b/install/travis.sh
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ $RUNDIR/install_cassandra.sh
 ###############################################################################
 
 [ -x "$(which pip)" ] || easy_install pip
-pip install -U pip wheel setuptools
+pip install -U pip wheel setuptools coverage
 pushd $REDDIT_CODE/r2
 sudo python setup.py build
 python setup.py develop
diff --git a/r2/coverage.sh b/r2/coverage.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..fb51a7183
--- /dev/null
+++ b/r2/coverage.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+BASEDIR=$(readlink -f $(dirname $0))
+cd $BASEDIR
+
+VERSION=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+COVERDIR="$BASEDIR/build/cover-$VERSION"
+
+function usage() {
+    echo "Run unit tests and coverage reports on reddit codebase with optional"
+    echo "http server to the report"
+    echo
+    echo "Usage: `basename $0` [options]";
+    echo
+    echo "  -h           show this message"
+    echo "  -p \$PORT     run an simple http server on \$PORT to view results"
+    echo "  -v           verbose mode (set -x)"
+    echo
+}
+
+while getopts ":vhp:" opt; do
+  case $opt in
+    p) PORT="$OPTARG" ;;
+    v) set -x ;;
+    h)
+      usage
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    \?)
+      echo "Invalid option: -$OPTARG" >&2
+      usage
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+    :)
+      echo "Option -$OPTARG requires an argument." >&2
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+nosetests \
+    --with-coverage \
+    --cover-html \
+    --cover-html-dir=$COVERDIR \
+    --cover-erase \
+    --cover-package=r2
+
+if [ "$PORT" != "" ]; then
+    echo "Starting http server on :$PORT (^C to exit)"
+    pushd $COVERDIR
+    python -m SimpleHTTPServer $PORT || echo "Done."
+    popd
+fi
+rm -r $COVERDIR
diff --git a/r2/r2/lib/app_globals.py b/r2/r2/lib/app_globals.py
index ced9a1344..8aeacecec 100644
--- a/r2/r2/lib/app_globals.py
+++ b/r2/r2/lib/app_globals.py
@@ -477,7 +477,15 @@ class Globals(object):
             raise AttributeError("g has no attr %r" % name)
 
     def setup(self):
-        self.env = 'unit_test' if 'test' in sys.argv[0] else ''
+        self.env = ''
+        if (
+            # handle direct invocation of "nosetests"
+            "test" in sys.argv[0] or
+            # handle "setup.py test" and all permutations thereof.
+            "setup.py" in sys.argv[0] and "test" in sys.argv[1:]
+        ):
+            self.env = "unit_test"
+
         self.queues = queues.declare_queues(self)
 
         self.extension_subdomains = dict(
diff --git a/r2/r2/tests/__init__.py b/r2/r2/tests/__init__.py
index 106c4335e..a7f467b45 100644
--- a/r2/r2/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/r2/r2/tests/__init__.py
@@ -97,3 +97,10 @@ class RedditTestCase(TestCase):
                         ".".join(current_prefix), got, want
                     )
                 )
+
+    def autopatch(self, obj, attr, *a, **kw):
+        """Helper method to patch an object and automatically cleanup."""
+        p = patch.object(obj, attr, *a, **kw)
+        m = p.start()
+        self.addCleanup(p.stop)
+        return m
diff --git a/r2/r2/tests/unit/models/vote_test.py b/r2/r2/tests/unit/models/vote_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bf50d518c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/r2/r2/tests/unit/models/vote_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+from mock import patch, MagicMock
+from datetime import datetime
+
+import pytz
+
+from r2.models.vote import Vote
+from r2.tests import RedditTestCase
+
+
+class TestVoteValidator(RedditTestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.user = MagicMock(name="user")
+        self.thing = MagicMock(name="thing")
+        self.vote_data = {}
+        super(RedditTestCase, self).setUp()
+
+    def cast_vote(self, **kw):
+        kw.setdefault("date", datetime.now(pytz.UTC))
+        kw.setdefault("direction", Vote.DIRECTIONS.up)
+        kw.setdefault("get_previous_vote", False)
+        kw.setdefault("data", self.vote_data)
+        return Vote(
+            user=self.user,
+            thing=self.thing,
+            **kw
+        )
+
+    def assert_vote_effects(
+        self, vote, affects_score, affects_karma,
+        affected_thing_attr, *notes
+    ):
+        self.assertEqual(vote.effects.affects_score, affects_score)
+        self.assertEqual(vote.effects.affects_karma, affects_karma)
+        self.assertEqual(vote.affected_thing_attr, affected_thing_attr)
+        self.assertEqual(set(vote.effects.notes), set(notes))
+        return vote
+
+    def test_upvote_effects(self):
+        vote = self.cast_vote()
+        self.assertTrue(vote.is_upvote)
+        self.assertFalse(vote.is_downvote)
+        self.assertFalse(vote.is_self_vote)
+        self.assert_vote_effects(vote, True, True, "_ups")
+
+    def test_downvote_effects(self):
+        vote = self.cast_vote(direction=Vote.DIRECTIONS.down)
+        self.assertFalse(vote.is_upvote)
+        self.assertTrue(vote.is_downvote)
+        self.assertFalse(vote.is_self_vote)
+        self.assert_vote_effects(vote, True, True, "_downs")
diff --git a/r2/setup.py b/r2/setup.py
index 741935e90..f33303790 100644
--- a/r2/setup.py
+++ b/r2/setup.py
@@ -85,12 +85,9 @@ setup(
         "webob",
         "webtest",
     ],
-    # Extra dependencies that aren't needed for running the app.
-    # * https://pythonhosted.org/setuptools/setuptools.html#declaring-extras-optional-features-with-their-own-dependencies
-    # * https://github.com/pypa/sampleproject/blob/300f04dc44df51492deb859ac98ba521d2c7a17a/setup.py#L71-L77
-    extras_require={
-        'test': ['mock', 'nose'],
-    },
+    # setup tests (allowing for "python setup.py test")
+    tests_require=['mock', 'nose', 'coverage'],
+    test_suite="nose.collector",
     dependency_links=[
         "https://github.com/reddit/snudown/archive/v1.1.3.tar.gz#egg=snudown-1.1.3",
         "https://s3.amazonaws.com/code.reddit.com/pycaptcha-0.4.tar.gz#egg=pycaptcha-0.4",