An Illinois woman who posted on Facebook about voting twice in the 2024 election has been sentenced by a judge for the crime, according to authorities.
Brenda Knuth, 61, of Hoopeston, was sentenced June 26 to three years' probation and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine, after she pleaded guilty in January to repeatedly voting in the federal election, authorities said.
Knuth voted early in the November election and then voted again on Election Day before taking to Facebook to post that she had “tested the system and it failed,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
She later admitted to an FBI agent that she voted twice because she wanted to see if her early vote counted, authorities said, adding that she admitted she did not speak with any election official about her prior vote, confirm if it counted or notify the clerk’s office that she voted twice.
“The right to vote is a fundamental part of our democracy,” U.S. Attorney Gregory Gilmore said in a news release. “Abuse of that right cannot be tolerated.”
Knuth’s only previous conviction was for unlawful possession of an alligator in 2025 in Vermillion County, according to authorities.
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