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18 September 2014updated 23 Jul 2021 10:56am

“Should Scotland be an independent country?” Referendum voting is under way

The polls open for the Scottish independence referendum today. 

By Anoosh Chakelian

“Should Scotland be an independent country?”

This is the question Scottish voters will be answering today, in a simple “Yes” or “No” vote.

The Scottish independence referendum polls opened this morning at 7am, and will close at 10pm tonight.

A total of 4,285,323 people are registered to vote, or 97 per cent of the electorate, which is a record for Scotland.

The BBC’s Today programme is reporting that the first local total is expected to be announced at 1am on Friday morning, and the bulk of results to come through from 3am – 6am. We expect to hear the result early Friday morning – or “breakfast time”, according to the Chief Counting Officer.

If you want to find out details about how the vote is carried out, read my piece: “When will we know the result of the Scottish independence referendum?”.

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