FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz registered to vote while in jail, outraging a parent of one of the victims.
Andrew Pollack took to social media when he learned that Cruz registered as a Republican July 25 while being held on 17 murder and 17 attempted murder charges.
"I'm sick to my stomach," Pollack said on Twitter Saturday. "(He) murdered 17 students & staff, including my daughter Meadow. Yet in July, Broward Sheriff @ScottJIsrael let people into the jail to get him & other animals registered to vote."
And Broward Commissioner Michael Udine said: "It's just outrageous and so hurtful to the victims and the families of the Parkland massacre to see this. Regardless of the legality, it doesn't negate the pain and the hurt when the people of northwest Broward who were affected by this monster see something like this."
Registering inmates is nothing new, Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said.
"The process is controlled by the Supervisor of Elections office," she said. "It doesn't have anything to do with the sheriff."
Once eligible inmates are registered, absentee ballots are mailed directly to them in the jail and then returned to the supervisor's office once they have voted, she said.
Cruz has never been convicted of a crime so state law says he is eligible to vote.
"Taking away the voting rights of an eligible person awaiting trial is illegal," Coleman-Wright said. "BSO serves as a mail courier between the inmates and the Supervisor of Elections office."
