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Scottish independence polls close

September 19, 2014

The votes are in, and the final results are not expected until Friday morning in Edinburgh. More than 4.2 million Scottish residents registered ahead of the referendum on independence from the United Kingdom.

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Unabhängigkeitsvotum in Schottland
Image: Reuters/R. Cheyne

Polling booths shut around Scotland with the results of the referendum on a UK-exit still too close to call. Most surveys still gave the "no" campaign favoring continued membership of the United Kingdom a slight advantage, as was the case almost without exception in the run-up to the vote.

On the basis of this predicted 54 percent support for the "no" campaign, YouGov's president, Peter Kellner, told Sky News in the UK that he was "99 percent sure" that Scotland would remain part of the UK. Nevertheless, commentators remained cautious about a race that had proven far closer than many expected. An Ipsos MORI poll released on Thursday yielded similar results, 53-47 in the "no" camp's favor.

Turnout set to dwarf past elections

A record 97 percent of eligible voters, more than 4.2 million people, had registered to take part in the hotly-contested poll. In Sccotland, people aged 16 or over can vote, compared to the 18-year-old limit to take part in most UK elections. Turnout was expected to exceed 80 percent; by comparison, the last British general election could boast just 65.1 percent. Roughly 92 percent of eligible postal voters submitted ballots.

Investors appeared to have similarly backed a "no" answer to the question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The pound and Scottish-based stocks climbed higher in the latter hours of polling, having sharply fallen when the polls first appeared to give secessionists the edge.

Finalized results were expected after 06:30 a.m. local time (0530 UTC), with the major population centers of Edinburgh and Glasgow among the last constituencies to file their crucial results.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, long an advocate of independence, cast his vote near his home in northeastern Scotland early on the Thursday morning. Should Scotland support independence, politicians in London and Edinburgh would have around 18 months to hammer out the details of a split: Scotland's planned Independence Day would be March 24, 2016. The potential implications of a yes vote internationally, for instance with membership of institutions like NATO or the EU, remain unclear.

msh/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)