The polls opened at 07:00 this morning for the Scottish people to vote on whether Scotland should remains in the United Kingdom or become an independent nation.
Voters will mark an X in boxes next to Yes or No to the question:
“Should Scotland be an independent country?”
Around 97% of the electorate, 4,285,323 people, are registered to vote, with the turnout expected to be a historic high for voting across any polls in the UK.
All those over the age of 16 and eligible to vote can place their ballots at 2,608 polling station across Scotland up until 22:00 this evening, when the counting will start and results announced early on Friday morning.
789,024 Scots have already submitted their ballot via postal vote, after the largest number of postal vote registrations ever in Scotland.
The most recent surveys showed that the vote was too close to call, with most giving No a very slim 1-4% lead.
After the results are counted, chief counting officer Mary Pitcaithly will announce the results from the Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, around “breakfast time” on Friday. A timetable for the referendum can be found here.
A close result is expected, but recounts will only be allowed at a local level over concerns about process and not to “double check” the result, according to Elections Scotland.
If Yes wins, what happens next?
If No wins, what happens next?
To maintain impartiality the Descrier is not reporting details on campaigning by either Yes Scotland or the Better Together campaign today. Coverage will instead be limited to factual reporting until the polls close.
