STARRUCCA – Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele has designated a WayneCounty building used as a polling place for 120 years as a Keystone of Democracy.
Aichele, whose agency oversees elections in the state, has presented a certificate to the Wayne County Commissioners designating theScottCenterCommunity Centerin ScottTownship as a Keystone of Democracy.
“The Keystone of Democracy designation recognizes buildings that have served as unique pieces ofAmericana, where citizens participate in our most basic civic right, voting,” Aichele said.
“By recognizing these places where citizens gather twice a year to cast ballots, we also recognize the county officials, poll workers and, most importantly, the voters who come here year after year, to make our representative form of government work.”
TheScottCenterCommunity Centerwas built in 1830 by community members to serve as a school and church. The Wayne County Bureau of Elections has original documents from an election dated Feb. 16, 1892, stating the location of the polling place for Scott Township No. 2 as the “Scott Center School House.”
Attending the ceremony was ScottTownship resident Vergil K. Faigle Jr., who was inducted intoPennsylvania’s Voter Hall of Fame in 2010. Members of the Voter Hall of Fame must have voted in at least 50 consecutive general elections.
Faigle has voted in theScottCenterCommunity Centerfor 58 years, since he was old enough to vote, and recalled older family members voting and serving on election boards in the building. Voters with the last name Faigle are on the list of participating voters in the 1892 election documents which were used to verify the building’s use as a polling place.
“By their simple act of voting in this building, year after year, the people of WayneCounty provide the best example possible to their families, friends, and all of us, of what it means to be a good citizen,” Aichele said.
The Keystone of Democracy program, instituted earlier this year, recognizes polling places in use for at least 50 consecutive years, honors poll workers and reminds citizens of the importance of voting in every election. WayneCounty is the second county to receive such a distinction. Earlier this year, a polling place in SomersetCounty was designated a Keystone of Democracy.
County officials are encouraged to email the Department of State at ra-st-press@pa.gov to nominate polling places for the special designation.
