B-BP School Chief Releases Statement on Election Software Usage

Just minutes before the Bayport-Blue Point School Board of Education worksession this evening the Superintendent of Schools Dr. Vincent Butera released the following statement regarding the use of election management software the district has been using since 2008.

Here is the full statement as provided to Patch by the district:


Statement Regarding Bold Systems Software

Over the past several days I have personally conducted an investigation into the use of the Bold Systems software our district has been using to manage our annual elections. The software was acquired through annual license by the district from Eastern Suffolk BOCES and has been in use in the district since 1998.

In 2008, an upgrade was purchased which allowed our district clerk and the poll workers to effectively manage an election using software that streamline the registration and sign-in process, along with maintenance of the rolls, while also providing clean poll lists.

The upgrade also included a PSK option, which makes available more detailed information on who was voting. Like anything else, this tool can be used inappropriately if one is so motivated; however, I have found no evidence of inappropriate use of the software in our district. In fact, and quite to the contrary, it appears that the district has never generated PSK reports.

That, of course, brings up another question: why would we be paying for something that we were not using? Candidly, I can only deduce that the upgrade was paid for so that we would benefit from a streamlined digital process versus the traditional book logs. The PSK software was included as part of the upgrade was never utilized. As a result, the district has received a credit from BOCES for the current year, and I am appealing to them to refund prior year payments.

So in summation:

1. The district has used the Bold Systems software in a legitimate manner strictly for the District Clerk to manage elections.

2. There is no indication from my investigation that any inappropriate activity took place with the software.

3. No reports for illicit use were generated.

4. It does not appear that the district even used the enhancements in the upgrade that are causing concern.

What we have here, I believe, is a company that has made certain boastful business claims about its product that were highly inappropriate or even illegal, but were certainly not acted upon by our district. BOCES should have helped the vendor understand the inappropriateness of its claims in order to reinforce the legitimate and use functions of its product. No administrator I know would risk a license or job future to use this type of software to influence
an election.