Put long list of checkboxes in a table

I have a list of 23 checkboxes that I'd like to display in two columns. Using table tags in the options list almost works, but gives me some stray checkboxes. This doesn't seem to rise to the level of theming. Would it be possible to allow html in the options list for select items but ignore it in creating the items on the page? Or is there some way to do what I'm attempting now that I'm missing?